Blackburn’s homeless pods back for next winter

Emergency accommodation for some of Blackburn with Darwen’s most vulnerable homeless people will be retained for next winter and town hall bosses will now look at a longer term provision.

The borough council has revealed have extended the 10 sleeping and two dining “pods” in the grounds of the former Shadsworth Leisure Centre can now stay until the end of March 2026.

Under the authority’s “severe weather exposure provision”, the sleeping pods have been provided on 0.3 acres of the site for five years.

The council needs team will allocate the pods to vulnerable people and rough sleepers throughout next winter.

The leisure centre is now partly-demolished and the site scheduled for redevelopment.

Reacting to the news councillors have welcomed the extension of the pods and sought assurances for their future

Ewood’s Cllr Jim Casey said: “The council has been very successful with these pods. I am delighted about this.

“They are very important for the borough and the people who live in them.

“It gives them dignity and can be the start of people getting their lives back.

“I think we need to start planning for the future.”

Tory planning spokesman Cllr Paul Marrow said: “I am pleased the Shadsworth site has been so successful and is back again but we may need to look for another place for the future.”

Adult care boss Cllr Jackie Floyd said her department would look at where else in the borough the pods could be located if the Shadsworth site became unavailable.

She added: “This initiative has been really successful in helping our most vulnerable homeless residents.”

Planning chairman and Darwen West wards Cllr Dave Smith said: “We should be really proud of this.

“We are one of the few boroughs where such protection for the homeless is available.”

The pods all have a single bedroom and toilet/shower room.

And a kitchenette and dining area is provided in each dining pod.

The sleeper pods are arranged in a linear formation with the diner pods positioned to the eastern edge of the site.

While there is no disabled access to the pods there are alternative accessible provisions made elsewhere in the borough as part of the same programme.

The pods were first rolled out by the council in 2020 as part of pandemic homeless provisions.

Residents living in the pods benefit from wraparound support available at the site every day to help with addiction and mental health issues with a support network and pathway to a permanent home.

Their extension for another year was approved when Blackburn with Darwen planning committee met on Thursday night.