The Government has announced £90m funding to help turbocharge the work the Council has already done to overhaul Blackpool’s housing market.

The announcement was made by Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities at the Convention of the North 2024 in Leeds.

The sum of £90m from Homes England’s Brownfield Infrastructure Land Fund programme will catalyse vital regeneration projects in some of the most deprived areas of inner Blackpool.

This new landmark investment which forms part of the Government’s Levelling Up commitment to the town, will be used over the coming years to start to acquire property, facilitate masterplanning of key areas, develop further funding bids and help prepare for the development of new housing in Blackpool.

In March 2022, Blackpool was selected as one of 20 Levelling Up pilot areas in the country by Michael Gove MP.

The Council initially received monies to scale up local enforcement teams to tackle rogue landlords and improve housing standards in Blackpool.

The Government also supported Homes England to work with the Council and partners to prepare a business case for funding of a first phase of physical intervention to improve housing in the central area of Blackpool.

This allocation of £90m of Brownfield Infrastructure Land Funding has been secured following the completion and approval of that business plan.

A full public consultation on the programme of housing intervention will be launched later this year.

A new Frasers department store has opened in the Houndshill Shopping Centre.
Opened in partnership with Blackpool Council, owners of the shopping centre, it brings together a range of exciting brands, including Frasers, Flannels, Sports Direct, Game, and Evans Cycles, all under one roof.
Since it acquired the Houndshill in 2019, the Council has been working hard to support the town’s post-pandemic recovery and turn the shopping centre into a key driver for the regeneration of the town centre.
Blackpool is undergoing a significant transformation with a £2bn Growth and Prosperity Programme of investment and one of the most crucial developments was the re-letting of the former Debenhams store.
As of July 2023, only 39% of the former Debenhams vacant stores around the country have been successfully re-let, making this partnership a remarkable achievement for Blackpool and a significant milestone at national level.

The Government has announced the potential for a historic devolution deal for Lancashire.

The announcement to offer the deal was made by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt as part of his Autumn Statement this week.

For the past six months, leaders from Lancashire County Council, Blackburn with Darwen Council and Blackpool Council have been working together to progress a devolution deal for the county.

The proposed deal would give local leaders extra powers to tackle key local priorities such as better public transport, boosting economic prosperity and improving employment and skills.

It would also give Lancashire a stronger voice on the regional and national stage, ensuring the county does not miss out on vital funding and opportunities.

While a new Combined County Authority would be created, the deal would not require a change to the established county, borough or district councils across the area. There would be no requirement for an elected mayor, nor the power to precept over and above the normal Council Tax ask.

The proposed deal will now be discussed by members of each constituent council at a series of council meetings.

If all the councils agree, a public consultation will be held so residents and businesses can have their say on the proposal.

Each council will then consider the findings of the consultation before the final proposal is submitted to Government for Parliamentary approval next year.

Blackpool’s new £100m Civil Service Hub is taking shape in the heart of the town centre.

The seven-storey building, which will accommodate more than 3,000 public servants, is the latest phase of the £350m Talbot Gateway regeneration scheme.

It is expected to be finished by the first quarter of 2025.

The new offices will generate significant new footfall to the area, boosting trade to local businesses, retailers, restaurants, cafes and leisure facilities, alongside a wealth of new job opportunities for local people, along with excellent sustainable transport connectivity through train, bus and tram.

The new building has been designed by renowned architects, Make, to BREEAM “Excellent” standard, which means it will operate on low energy and promote both sustainable development and wellbeing.

An inclusive approach to sustainability was taken from the outset to make sure the building will be as energy-efficient as possible, with high levels of insulation and air source heat pumps to provide low-carbon heating and cooling. Demand-driven ventilation will improve indoor air quality, while at the same time allowing energy savings during times when the building is not occupied.

The site, which will include a new town centre square with cycle and pedestrian routes, is within walking distance of the new tram interchange at Blackpool North Station.

The interchange forms part of phase two of Talbot Gateway along with a new 144-bedroom Holiday Inn hotel, which will open in time for Easter next year, creating 50 new full-time jobs.

The long-standing partnership between Muse and Blackpool Council has already delivered the 125,000 sq ft Number One Bickerstaffe Square council offices, a Sainsbury’s supermarket and a refurbished 650-space multi-storey car park, alongside extensive public spaces for the community to enjoy.

Blackpool has unveiled a dazzling multi-million pounds programme of marketing, events and new attractions to celebrate the start of a new tourism season.

The highlights were revealed to an audience of hoteliers and other tourism businesses by VisitBlackpool and resort partners at the annual season launch in the new £30m Conference & Exhibition Centre in the historic Winter Gardens. These included:

• More than £15m of investment in new attractions including the world’s first Gruffalo & Friends Clubhouse on the Golden Mile; a new big cat enclosure at Blackpool Zoo; the much-anticipated return of the award-winning Valhalla thrill ride at Blackpool Pleasure Beach; a new three-tier Ninja assault course at Ascent Trampoline Park and a new multiplex cinema in the town centre featuring one of the country’s largest IMAX screens.

• The planned opening of a new four-star Holiday Inn and Marco Pierre White restaurant, a 70-bedroom extension to the seafront Hampton By Hilton, and a much-enhanced hospitality offer with the summer arrival of a Turtle Bay restaurant and newly-regenerated Abingdon Street Market with multiple food and drink concessions.

• The planned return of the annual Switch-On ceremony to the outdoors where the Illuminations will be turned on as part of a free event with music and family entertainment. For the past three years, the Switch-On ceremony has been performed indoors with a limited audience, largely due to COVID restrictions. Further details will be revealed in the weeks ahead.

• A right royal celebration on Sunday 7 May to mark the King’s Coronation featuring a magnificent heritage tram parade along the seafront and a Big Lunch outdoor picnic with live entertainment on the Tower Festival Headland. The resort will also take part in the Lighting Up The Nation event that evening with a unique, Coronation-themed Illuminations display.

• Another two-month extension to the Illuminations season with the lights shining nightly from September 1 until January 1, 2024. Following the introduction of the giant Odyssey installation during 2022, the Illuminations team are working on three brand new installations for the 2023 season which will be unveiled over the coming months.

• A packed calendar of free events including the two-day Blackpool Air Show with the Red Arrows performing on both days, as well as Ride The Lights, World Fireworks Championship Blackpool, the award-winning Lightpool Festival, and Christmas By The Sea.

• A vast selection of West End shows and live entertainment at venues including the Winter Gardens, Grand Theatre, and Pleasure Beach, including Six The Musical, Annie, Shrek The Musical, The Spongebob Musical, The Mousetrap, and a new musical stage adaptation of Winnie The Pooh. Sir Cliff Richard will also mark 60 years since he first performed a summer season in Blackpool with a concert at the Opera House.

• A repeat of the “Only In Blackpool” destination marketing campaign developed in partnership with Merlin Entertainments and other resort partners, and first unveiled last year. The summer campaign will once again feature resort “ambassador” Nigel C Gull giving TV viewers a whistle-stop tour of the resort’s major attractions.

The launch event also saw the publication of a bumper free entertainment guide containing hundreds of listings for shows, musicals and concerts running from Easter to the end of the year at numerous venues including the piers and Viva Blackpool.

A Government award of £40m of Levelling Up funds will ensure delivery of a new Multiversity, a carbon-neutral, education campus in Blackpool’s Talbot Gateway Central Business District.

New artist impressions (see above) show the scale of the development, which will allow Blackpool and the Fylde College to develop world-class, state-of-the-art facilities in the heart of the town centre.

The Multiversity, a partnership between the College, Blackpool Council and Wyre Council, will promote higher-level skills, helping residents secure jobs for the future. It is estimated that the scheme will cost £65m, with all of the funding now in place.

Key benefits of the project include:
 Improving skills and opportunities;
 A tailored curriculum catering for the specific needs of Fylde Coast employers;
 Supporting town centre regeneration with thousands of students on campus;
 Improving town centre public realm with high-quality, pedestrianised public open spaces.

The biggest standalone light installation ever created for Blackpool Illuminations has brought a futuristic feel to the famous Golden Mile.

Standing at 11 metres high, Odyssey is a spectacular interactive display that has been co-created by international designer Jack Irving in collaboration with a highly-talented team of computer scientists from Lancaster University.

The outdoor installation comprises six large-scale towers that are combined with state-of-the-art technology to create an immersive projection show themed on undiscovered creatures lurking in the depths of the deep sea.
Odyssey, which has been manufactured at the Blackpool Illuminations Lightworks factory, has taken more than two years to design and build.

The design of the three towers is based on sea gods from Greek mythology: Poseidon, Aphrodite, and Amphitrite. Aphrodite, the tallest of the three towers, is an impressive 7 metres wide, and 11 metres high!
Incorporating 60 powerful lasers and a sound and light show, the installation provides an extraordinary interactive experience for visitors as they discover alien sea creatures swimming and swirling around their feet.

The creation of Odyssey has been assisted by the investment that Blackpool Council has received from the Towns Fund, which is aimed at rejuvenating the Illuminations and developing concepts that will attract new generations of visitors.

Situated on the Tower Festival Headland, alongside this year’s Christmas By The Sea village, the free attraction will remain in place throughout the extended Illuminations season which ends on January 2, 2023.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove has pledged £40m to relocate Blackpool Magistrates’ and County Court building, paving the way for the resort’s £300m leisure development behind the Golden Mile.

Plans for the Blackpool Central scheme were approved in October 2021 and include family attractions, hotel, heritage quarter and a new public events space.

The first phase of work – to build a 1,300-space multi-storey to replace the existing surface car park – is already underway, but public sector investment and collaboration were required to relocate the courts from the 17-acre site so later phases could be completed.

Mr Gove visited Blackpool to announce that £40m will be transferred from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, to the Home Office and will pay for the relocation of the facility to a new state-of-the-art complex in Blackpool.

Blackpool Central, on the site of what was once one of the world’s busiest railway stations, represents the largest single investment in Blackpool for over a century. It will see the area transformed into a year-round leisure destination, creating an estimated 1,000 jobs and attracting around 600,000 additional visitors to the resort every year.

Note: Bonny Street Market closed at the end of November to make way for the Blackpool Central development after occupying the site for more than 30 years. The market was originally set to close last year, but was given a one-year reprieve.

The site of Blackpool’s proposed multiversity educational facility has been revealed for the first time – with a large chunk of commercial and residential properties set to be redeveloped to make way for the £65m scheme.

The development is earmarked for a three-acre site behind the Blackpool Council offices on Bickerstaffe Square, taking in parts of George Street, Grosvenor Street, Milbourne Street and Cookson Street.

It forms another phase of the Talbot Gateway regeneration scheme where a Holiday Inn and tram terminal are nearing completion. and work is due to start on a new £100m Civil Service hub.

The proposals would see Blackpool and the Fylde College relocate the University Centre Blackpool Campus from Park Road to the new site with a capacity for up to 3,000 students.

It is hoped to negotiate the purchase of property required for the development, but the Council is expected to seek a compulsory purchase order if necessary.

Funding of £9m has already been secured for site assembly for the multiversity as part of the Town Deal, while a bid for £40m towards construction has been made to the Government’s Levelling Up Fund.

TV celebrity and designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen brought a dash of showbiz razzmatazz to Blackpool as he switched on the resort’s famous Illuminations.

The star of Channel 4’s Changing Rooms pulled the switch at the end of a 90-minute live concert in the Blackpool Tower Ballroom produced in association with MTV and featuring Blue, Tom Grennan, Nina Nesbitt, Fuse ODG and Mae Muller

Crowds who had gathered on the Promenade to watch the show on a giant screen were treated to a burst of fireworks and a spectacular light show on The Blackpool Tower to mark the start of four months of Illuminations.

Laurence had earlier told the show’s host Becca Dudley of his love and affection for the Illuminations and his pride at being invited to perform the Switch-On ceremony.

Over the past few years, Laurence has collaborated with the Illuminations production team, designing a number of spectacular features and installations.

His appearance as Switch-On star this year coincides with the unveiling of a dazzling makeover for the Golden Mile in which Laurence has created a stretch of Art Deco-style features that will celebrate a golden age of 1930s glamour.

The concert and Switch-On moment were streamed to a global audience via VisitBlackpool and MTV channels. Last year, that attracted viewers from as far afield as Australia, Canada and the United States. It was also live-streamed on a specially-erected screen on the nearby Tower Festival Headland.

The 2022 Blackpool Illuminations have once again been extended by two months and will shine each night from September 2 to January 2, 2023. For Switch-On times and full details of this year’s display including the free nightly projection shows on The Blackpool Tower, go to: www.visitblackpool.com/illuminations

The Illuminations remain one of the UK’s most endearing and enduring tourist attractions, having shone for more than a century.

Blackpool was one of the first of 101 towns in the UK to secure funding from the Government’s £3.6bn Towns Fund. With the help of this support, funds were allocated to upgrade the Blackpool Illuminations to attract additional visitors by developing new features and lighting technology.

The newly-reimagined Golden Mile area is the first section of the Illuminations to benefit. The roadway section is entirely programmable, giving the Illuminations team full control of the lighting display.

Other features to be unveiled during this year’s Illuminations season and associated Lightpool Festival (which runs from October 14-29) include the biggest ever standalone installation, Odyssey, which has been co-created by international designer Jack Irving and a team from Lancaster University. Details of the Odyssey unveiling will be announced in the coming weeks.

The new Beachside Boulevard is a seaside-themed roadside section featuring brightly lit neon sandcastles and multi-coloured waves. Keeping to the seaside theme, watch out for two giant pixelated beach balls on the Tower Festival Headland, each standing more than seven metres tall and providing a spectacular walk-through experience and a giant ice-cream specially created for selfies!