Plans to turn part of former Fleetwood Hospital into student accommodation

Part of the former Fleetwood Hospital building could be used for student accommodation in the face of a shortage of suitable provision in the area.

The plans entail transforming the second floor of the vast building on Pharos Street, parts of which are already in both medical and community use.

An application has been submitted to Wyre planners by Blackpool and the Fylde College for a change of use from former hospital (Sui Generis) to student accommodation (Sui Generis), with minor external alterations including blocking up of three existing windows.

Fleetwood Hospital is owned by the Fleetwood Trust, a local not-for-profit charity that purchased the building from the NHS in November 2018, to transform it into a community asset and multi-use hub.

While the physical building is community-owned, clinical and outpatient healthcare services inside the facility continue to be run by the Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

A Design and Access Planning Statement, including a heritage statement, has been submitted by Mason Gillibrand Architects on behalf of the College.

It says: “The ground floor has been redeveloped by the Fleetwood Trust as The HUB, a community focused facility.

“The Trust has already completed the ground floor works and welcomed a range of tenants including Blackpool Football Club, Blackpool and The Fylde College, Macmillan Cancer Support, Regenda Housing Group,The Pantry foodbank and the town’s first Changing Places facility.

“The next phase, led by Blackpool and The Fylde College, focuses on the second floor and responds to the growing need for high-quality student accommodation in Fleetwood.

“The former Fleetwood Hospital is an established building within Fleetwood Conservation Area. The proposal relates solely to the second floor and forms part of the wider phased reuse of the building for community, educational and associated accommodation purposes.

“The accommodation will support student cohorts attending Fleetwood Nautical College and will operate in direct association with the College rather than as independent general market housing.

“The requirement for this type of accommodation arises from growing student numbers and a documented shortfall in suitable local provision.

“The College currently has only 135 bedrooms on site, and students increasingly struggle to secure appropriate accommodation in Fleetwood, Cleveleys and Thornton.

“Demand is outstripping supply, and the proposed development provides a targeted and sustainable response to this need.

“This application therefore seeks consent for the change of use of the second floor to provide 24 student bedrooms and associated communal facilities.

“The works are primarily internal, with only minimal external alterations required. To accommodate the revised internal layout, two existing windows on the rear (west) elevation will be blocked up.

These openings will be infilled with insulated timber-lined panels with projecting sills, designed to read as blank window elements and maintain the established rhythm of the elevation.”

The statement’s heritage aspect says the building contributes positively to the Fleetwood Conservation Area and preserves this character by limiting external works to the rear elevation, away from key public viewpoints, a well as retaining all principal façades, unchanged.

The Statement concludes: “The scheme will deliver high-quality accommodation for Fleetwood Nautical College students, supporting both the College and the wider community.”