Plans in for £18m mixed-use Kirkham scheme

PLANS have been submitted for an £18m development around a new football stadium on the Fylde.

The proposed scheme, on a 32-acre site off junction three of the M55 at Kirkham, includes community sports and education facilities as well as new retail, leisure and commercial space, and a new ground for non league AFC Fylde.

The club’s chairman David Haythornthwaite, who also runs Lytham vetinary supplies business the Tangerine Group, is behind the venture through a vehicle called Mill Farm Ventures.

The masterplan for the proposed development, which it is claimed could create 200 jobs, has been drawn up by architecture and design practice, the Frank Whittle Partnership (FWP) which has offices in Preston, Manchester and London.

The plans detail all weather pitches for community use, a supermarket, a distribution centre with associated office space, a 63-bed hotel, petrol station and a public. The new AFC Fylde stadium would have a capacity of 6,000 and include a modern 2,000 all-seater main stand with supporters’ bar, executive boxes and a function room.

Preston-based planning consultancy PWA Planning handled the application. Director Paul Walton said: “The site is allocated for employment and leisure uses in the emerging Fylde Local Plan and this proposal directly addresses the council’s and national Government’s aspirations surrounding sustainable development.

“If approved it will help to sustain the local economy and provide much needed sporting facilities and jobs for this part of Lancashire.”