Plans for a new DVSA Driving Test Centre on the Fylde Coast have been unveiled

Last week, a planning application was submitted to Fylde Council for Unit 8, The Pavilions on Avroe Crescent in Lytham St Annes seeking a “change of use from offices (use class e(g)(i)) to driving test centre (use class sui generis).”

The application was submitted by the Driving Standards Agency (DVSA), the Department for Transport agency responsible for carrying out driving tests amongst a variety of road safety concerns. The 153.94 square metre site is currently vacant but was last used as the offices for a marketing agency called Huddle Media.

In the planning statement it states that DVSA Blackpool intend to relocate their operations from their existing location at the Norbreck Castle Hotel in Blackpool to The Pavilions, where they will again be allowed to offer driving licence tests.

Therefore this new planning application does not mean a second driving test centre on the Fylde Coast, it is merely a relocation.

Regarding the proposed development, the planning statement also adds: “Space is required by DVSA to meet the local need for car (Cat B) driving tests and the government's objective to reduce driving test waiting times. The site is on an established test route and provides appropriate internal space and car parking.”

According to the plans drawings, the site’s floor plan will stay the same but one of the four office rooms will become a waiting room instead.

The planning documents state that the new driving text centre will be open between 8:00am and 4:30pm Monday to Friday and 7:30am to 3:30pm on Saturdays and Sundays. The change of use does not come with a change in car parking spaces or employees with the proposed driving test centre having 10 parking spaces, six full time staff members and two part time.

You can read the full application here.