Town Deal update on Revoe Sports Village and Blackpool FC East Stand

Work has yet to begin on building the Revoe Sports Village despite planning permission being approved nearly 12 months ago – but council documents say the scheme is progressing.

The project to build community sports facilities on land north of Blackpool Football Club’s Bloomfield Road stadium was approved unanimously by the council’s Planning Committee in January 2023.

A further phase of the scheme, which has been allocated £6.5m from Blackpool’s £40m Town Deal, is to build a new East Stand at the stadium but plans have yet to be submitted to the council.

Around £17m of private and other investment is expected to be added to the total spending, with Blackpool FC owner Simon Sadler due to contribute to the cost of the new stand.

A report updating the council’s executive on the scheme says nearly £700,000 of Town Deal funding had been spent on the project by the end of September last year.

It adds Blackpool FC “are progressing options/designs for the East Stand development” and after making a request the council received a letter of commitment to the scheme from Simon Sadler last July.

Legal steps to be taken also include the signing of a memorandum of understanding and collaboration agreement between the council and the football club “to clarify the respective roles in taking forward the implementation of the project.”

The council report adds: “The overall project aim is to establish a sports village with leisure, education, and residential uses using £6.5m Town Deal while leveraging up to £17m of private and other investment.

“Bloomfield Road – the home of Blackpool Football Club, whilst an important asset for Blackpool, its East Stand is a temporary structure in need of significant investment.

“More widely, there is vacant brownfield land between the Foxhall residential development area and Bloomfield Road which has stood undeveloped for a number of years. ”

It goes on: “The deprivation around the Football Club is material and extensive. Therefore, there is a clear need to invest in the area and improve many of the shortcomings and challenges currently faced by the local community.”

Permission was granted by the Planning Committee for an enclosed full-size 11-a-side artificial grass pitch and an enclosed five-a-side artificial grass pitch, both with floodlighting, a single-storey changing pavilion and a storage building.