BLACKPOOL and Fylde councils could be at loggerheads over the size of a new stadium on the outskirts of the resort.

Blackpool regeneration and development committee on Monday is likely to state it wants a more modest Whyndyke Farm development than the ambitious 40,000-seat superstadium which is Fylde's goal.

Blackpool planners see the scheme primarily as a direct replacement for Blackpool Football Club's decrepit Bloomfield Road stadium.

Fylde, however - in which most of Whyndyke Farm lies - wants a much grander multi-event stadium capable of hosting pop concerts, conferences and the like as well as sport, boosting visitors to the whole coast.

Fylde specifies 40,000 seats in a draft review of its Local Plan, the blueprint setting planning guidelines for the borough until 2006, on which the Blackpool regeneration committee is being asked to comment on Monday.

The argument revolves around the farm's countryside status - normally protected under national regulations.

Blackpool planning officers recommend: "Whyndyke Farm is currently countryside - its development should be regarded as justifiable only on the exceptional grounds that it is a direct replacement for Blackpool Football Club."

This, together with limited enabling development (primarily non-food stores and homes) is, they say, "the only development which should be considered permissible."

They argue against Fylde's specific target of a 40,000-seat superstadium because a more a modest proposal may not be acceptable.

Developers McAlpine and Blackpool FC have submitted two plans - one for a 40,000 seater and one for 25,000 seats and an accompanying 8,000-seat arena - still much larger than Blackpool FC's average crowds of around 4,000.

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