Project update: Assisted living centre and new homes earmarked for site

An application by Leyland-based Progress Care Housing Association to redevelop the site of the former Hoyle House on Grange Park has been approved by Blackpool Council.

The scheme will see the construction of six two-storey semi-detached houses, two semi-detached bungalows and three two storey mews homes.

There will also be an assistive technology centre to help people live independently, with seven self contained flats and a staff communal area on the site on Argosy Avenue.

Hoyle House was built around 1969 and had 20 beds providing respite care for people including elderly residents leaving hospital.

A number of options to re-use the building were put forward after it closed in 2013, but none were considered suitable by the council.

Following incidents of vandalism, it was eventually decided to demolish the centre in 2016 and redevelop the site as a whole.

After it closed, services were relocated to Mansfield House in Layton.

A design statement accompanying the application says the aim is “ to create a secure environment for the assistive technology centre away from Argosy Avenue.”

A new roadway through the site has helped “create an attractive setting for the building”.

It adds “the domestic nature of the scheme was further enhanced by the inclusion of four dwellings across the road.

The scheme was rounded off by adding seven further dwellings along Argosy Avenue to enhance the street presence.”