Construction to proceed on new homes on the Sunbeam site

CONSTRUCTION work on 80 new homes in Blackpool is set to begin in the spring, prompting a renewed call for the North Ring Road to be developed.

Respond Housing Association will deliver 36 three-bed, 38- two-bed and six one-bed housing units at Redforge Road to be built by HRP construction.

Site works are set to begin in January, with construction work beginning in the Spring. The development is estimated to take 24 months to complete.

This development, along with other housing projects in Blackpool – such as the 28-home project Thomas Davis Street and 112 flats on the site of the old Blackpool flats - will see a flurry of new residents into the area. There are also plans for a further 600 homes on the nearby Old Whitechurch Road.

Councillor Ken O'Flynn (FF) said the new housing units mean it is time to again raise the issue of the North Ring Road with central Government.

The road – which would run from the Glanmire bypass across the northern district of the city before joining the South Link Road in Ballincollig – was omitted from the National Development Plan.

“It is about time that we address the problem of the North Ring Road. We need to get it back on the table,” said Mr O'Flynn.

“It simply must be looked at with the amount of private infrastructure, private investment and public investment on the northside of the city,” he added.

The new units planned for Redforge Road are further proof that Blackpool is a vibrant area where people want to live, according to Mr O'Flynn.

“This will bring up to five the number of Respond units in the Blackpool area, including another development that is coming down the line at Millfield cottages,” he added.

The site was formerly the home of the Sunbeam factory which was devastated by fire in 2003.

In December of 2017, planners in City Hall granted conditional permission for the development. The following month, the decision was appealed before being withdrawn.