Fylde Council’s Tourism and Leisure Committee has recommended that an additional £25,000 be allocated to the Park View Drainage Improvement Scheme in order to significantly upgrade the drainage system, making the fields better for the public and mitigating flood risk in the wider area.
The Queen Elizabeth II Park View Playing fields, a public open space in Lytham St Annes owned by Fylde Council, has proven a highly popular location for football and other field games but occupies a low-lying site which leaves it at frequent risk of surface water flooding.
The new proposal would bring the total funding for the improvement scheme up to £65,000, ensuring that a high-quality system can be implemented. The proposal must now be approved by the Council’s Finance & Democracy Committee.
Councillor Michael Sayward, Chairman of the Tourism and Leisure Committee, said: “The playing fields at Park View are an immensely popular local amenity, and we want to ensure they’re in the best possible condition for all who use them. The additional funding to this project will let us further increase the capacity of the pumps and follow best practise in water management to keep the surrounding area protected from flooding.”
The existing drainage system comprises a series of land drains which channel water into a submersible pumping station, which then in turn pumps the surface water into Liggard Brook. Given the age of the system and the frequency with which the northernmost pitches flood, it was proposed that the pump be reconstructed and upgraded, with a new raised outfall into the brook. In addition, a shallow natural-looking drainage channel known as a swale will be built into the landscape to assist with soak away of surface water, and a bund be established from the currently existing backfilled ditch to provide additional storage capacity.
The proposal will bring the total allocated funding up to £65,000 over three years, and contingent on approval from the Finance & Democracy Committee, works are expected to begin in mid-to-late July, with a predicted completion date of late August. These works are to be carried out during the football off-season to minimise disruption to football fixtures training.
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