BLACKPOOL & FYLDE HOTSPOTS IN ASSOCIATION WITH:
By Ged Henderson
MAKING REAL PROGRESS
We headed to the seaside on our tour of Lancashire’s hotspots. Leaders from business, local government, education and charity came together at the new Backlot cinema in Blackpool to discuss the issues facing the resort and the wider Fylde coast.
The motto on Blackpool’s proud coat of arms declares ‘Progress’. Today there are welcome signs of it happening across the famous coastal town.
Blackpool is best known for its tourism sector but much of the regeneration work happening now is looking to shift that dependency on the visitor economy and attract high-quality jobs in growth areas such as digital.
In May plans were submitted for a new £45m office development in Blackpool’s Talbot Gateway. It would be the fifth phase of the £350m development, which is bringing more than 8,000 workers and students into the town centre.
Phase one, including new Grade A offices, was
completed in 2014. Phase two, a 144 bed Holiday Inn hotel and Marco Pierre White New York Italian restaurant opened in May.
A £23m tramway extension, interchange with Blackpool North railway station and surrounding retail units, is now up and running and phase three, a civil service hub office for over 3,000 government workers is under construction and expected to open in 2025.
And planning consent has been granted for a ‘Multiversity’ campus for Blackpool and the Fylde College in phase four, bringing up to 3,000 more students and staff into the area.
The month of May also saw the launch of the potentially ‘game-changing’ Silicon Sands
SUPPORTED BY:
masterplan at Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone, looking to attract inward investment and spark the creation of thousands of high-quality jobs.
The aim is to take advantage of the Celtix- Connect2 internet cable that connects Blackpool with New York, Dublin and northern Europe as part of the North Atlantic Loop, which carries up to one-third of the world’s internet traffic.
Similar to the way data centre clusters have been developed in Dublin and New York, Blackpool’s belief is access to the cable could create significant inward investment – not just in the town but across the coast.
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