225 Acre Blackpool Development to become Healthy New Town
A 225 acre mixed-use scheme on the outskirts of Blackpool is one of ten developments selected to be part of a pioneering ‘Healthy New Towns’ initiative with NHS England.
Cassidy + Ashton successfully secured a planning permission at Whyndyke Farm in October 2015 and today the mixed-use urban extension was awarded Healthy New Town status by the King’s Fund.
The 1,400 home scheme, which straddles Fylde and Blackpool Council boundaries, includes a primary school, two shopping areas, a health centre and a community centre, together with employment; and will be developed with healthy living in mind. The initiative sets out to address major healthcare problems including obesity and dementia by encouraging people to exercise more, eat better and live more independently into old age.
One of the scheme’s healthy proposals being considered is to use technology to keep residents mindful of activity levels, with electronic waymarkers in lamp-posts calculating how many calories are burned while walking. Other elements of Whyndyke Farm include sports pitches, allotments, cycle paths and walkways, as well as natural habitats such as ponds and watercourses.
The Healthy New Towns programme attracted 114 applications from local authorities, housing associations, NHS organisations and housing developers, with 10 sites initially chosen following a rigorous selection process. Cassidy + Ashton was the only private sector organisation to be involved in the bid, with work on site expected to take around 15 years before fully developed.
Alban Cassidy, chartered town planner and environmental consultant at Cassidy + Ashton, said: “Whyndyke Farm is unique because it straddles both Fylde and Blackpool Council boundaries, meaning there’s greater opportunity for public and private sector organisations to work together towards achieving healthy lifestyles amongst local residents.
“We worked on the project for several years before it gained planning permission and look forward to getting our teeth into the various initiatives and advancements we have planned that will place health back at the centre of the community.”
Allan Oldfield, Fylde Council chief executive, added: “We’ve worked very closely with Cassidy + Ashton for some years now on this site and their expertise has helped immensely in putting this bid together. We’ll soon be in the particularly interesting phase of adding detail to the project – a phase that many organisations will be involved in. It is a very important project for Fylde as it puts us at the forefront of designing towns for the future.”
