£6m sports village opens at Blackpool Enterprise Zone

By Tim Aldred

03 Jul 2023

Ribbon cutting at Common Edge Community Sports Village Launch

The first phase of development at Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone is now complete with the opening of a new £6m sports village. 

The Common Edge Community Sports Village includes 14 new grass football pitches, along with a full sized 3G football pitch, sports pavilion with changing rooms and community space, plus a grass rugby pitch and training area.

The seven 11 v 11 football pitches are complemented by five seven-a-side and two nine-a-side pitches. A full sized 3G all-weather pitch is available with access directly from the new changing rooms. Grass for a new floodlit rugby pitch and training area is growing ready to use later in the year.

The new sports pavilion also includes six changing rooms, two officials' rooms, two kitchens and a large community room. A 194-space car park with sustainable drainage and new access road to the sports village has also been completed as part of the works.

The sports village has been developed as phase one of the Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone, and improving the community sports facilities allows 10.5 hectares of land to be unlocked for commercial development.

Coun Mark Smith, cabinet member for Levelling Up (Place) at Blackpool Council, said: “This is the first completed phase of our investment into the Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone by providing a high-quality community facility that people of all ages will enjoy for years to come.

“Equally, it allows us to move forward with our plans to attract new businesses on to the Enterprise Zone, and in turn create hundreds more quality jobs that local people can benefit from as we work to make Blackpool better.”

Work to build a new access road connecting Common Edge Road to Amy Johnson Way through the unlocked land is hoped to start later this year, creating access to for 235,000 sq ft of development plots which will become available for growing or relocating businesses.

The commercial units will help the Enterprise Zone to achieve its targets of creating 3,000 new, quality jobs for local people and spark £300m of private sector investment in the town.

Support to build a new access road to the sports village, as well as the new access road to Amy Johnson Way, has been provided through a £7.5m grant from HM Government Town Fund, while £250,000 of funding for the construction of the sports pavilion was granted by Football Foundation.

Lead design consultants for the Enterprise Zone Cassidy + Ashton worked on the plans for the sports pavilion and football pitches, with Wildes Consulting leading on highways design for the new junction. The pavilion was constructed by Conlon Construction while STRI group installed the new pitches and AE Yates constructed the new highway.

Enjoyed this? Read more from Tim Aldred

Latest news

1

PM+M welcomes ten new apprentices for 2025 intake Lucy Field, Kate Walsh, Ellie Fisher, Zainab Aswat, Reece Jones, Aisha Bibi Patel, Finley Vila, Uzair Zariwala, Richard Prest, and Charlie Harrison

PM+M welcomes ten new apprentices for 2025 intake

11 Sep 2025

2

ROCCIA strengthens commercial division with senior appointment Andrew Grove

ROCCIA strengthens commercial division with senior appointment

11 Sep 2025

3

Final call for investors: Rossendale community solar project must hit target by November Gary McEwan managing director of Interfloor

Final call for investors: Rossendale community solar project must hit target by November

10 Sep 2025

4

Lancashire Combined County Authority unveil plan to Get Lancashire Working Lancashire Combined Authority

Lancashire Combined County Authority unveil plan to Get Lancashire Working

10 Sep 2025

5

Lockheed Martin Skunk Works and BAE Systems’ FalconWorks announce strategic collaboration Collaboration between BAE Systems FalconWorks and Lockheed Martin Skunk Works

Lockheed Martin Skunk Works and BAE Systems’ FalconWorks announce strategic collaboration

09 Sep 2025

Background image for hub sign up block

LBV Hub

Leverage Lancashire Business View platforms

Post your news
Post your events
Post your offers
Build your network
Improve your SEO
Gain coverage in the magazine
Sign-up
Events
Sub36 Networking - Follow the signs
Sub36 Deaf Village Social1200
Networking
17 Sep 2025

Sub36 Networking - Follow the signs

The Deaf Village, Blackburn, BB2 5EN

10:00 - 12:00

LBV124 September/October Launch Event
MBP Arc Cinema Preston Opening 205
Networking
18 Sep 2025

LBV124 September/October Launch Event

The Arc Cinema, Preston, PR1 2BL

08:30 - 10:30

CMI Level 5 Management and Leadership Course
UCLanAerialCampus.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
21 Feb 2025 - 21 Feb 2026

CMI Level 5 Management and Leadership Course

Preston Campus, Preston , PR1 2HE

09:00 - 17:00

CMI Level 5 Project Management Course
UCLanAerialCampus.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
21 Feb 2025 - 21 Feb 2026

CMI Level 5 Project Management Course

Preston Campus, Preston, PR1 2HE

08:00 - 17:00

Longridge Soap Box Derby
Screenshot 2025-06-10 090035.png.png
LBV Hub Fundraisers
14 Sep 2025 - 14 Sep 2025

Longridge Soap Box Derby

Berry Lane, Longridge, PR3 3WH

10:00 - 16:30

Preston Tech Connection - The Ultimate Tech Quiz!
Preston Tech Connection Sept 25.png.png
LBV Hub Networking
16 Sep 2025 - 16 Sep 2025

Preston Tech Connection - The Ultimate Tech Quiz!

Society1, Coworking Space, Preston, PR1 3LT

18:00 - 19:00

The Business Network Central & East Lancashire
LBV Hub Networking
17 Sep 2025 - 17 Sep 2025

The Business Network Central & East Lancashire

Stanley House, Blackburn, BB2 7NP

11:30 - 14:15

Cumbria Business Expo 2025
https---cdn.evbuc.com-images-880461633-4862066883-1-original.20241022-110415.jpeg.jpg
LBV Hub Exhibitions
19 Sep 2025 - 19 Sep 2025

Cumbria Business Expo 2025

Carlisle Racecourse, Carlisle, CA2 4TS

09:00 - 15:00

Your Business, Your Region: Making sense of devolution and Local Government Reorganisation
Chorley Council breakfast event new
LBV Hub Networking
23 Sep 2025 - 23 Sep 2025

Your Business, Your Region: Making sense of devolution and Local Government Reorganisation

Worden Hall, Leyland, PR25 3DH

08:00 - 11:00

Preston Freelancer Meet-Up: September
Sept Freelancer (1).png.png
LBV Hub Networking
23 Sep 2025 - 23 Sep 2025

Preston Freelancer Meet-Up: September

Society1, Coworking Space, Preston, PR1 3LT

10:00 - 11:30

Speed Networking with BNI
2.png.png
LBV Hub Networking
24 Sep 2025 - 24 Sep 2025

Speed Networking with BNI

Chorley Football Club, Chorley, PR7 3DU

16:00 - 19:00

The Marketing Meetup IRL: Lancashire - September
TMM Lancashire
LBV Hub Networking
25 Sep 2025 - 25 Sep 2025

The Marketing Meetup IRL: Lancashire - September

Chorley, PR7 2SL

18:00 - 20:00

Advertise with us

Reaching 50,000 members, our print, digital and event platforms offer a fantastic way to raise your business profile and help you grow.

Find out more LBV 123 Online Graphic
Subscribe now

Weekly news bulletin