Council leader slams asylum seeker misinformation in end of year message

Cllr Lynn Williams also addressed where the authority is focusing in terms of redevelopment over the next 12 months

Hello and welcome to The Blackpool Lead.

We hope the last three or four days have been whatever you wanted them to be, whether a joyous occasion or just hoping for a peaceful few days.

Today we look at the end of year message by the leader of Blackpool Council, who chose to focus on the issues of redevelopment and asylum seekers.

We’ve spent 2025 reporting on what things are really like for asylum seekers at the Metropole Hotel, and always tried to fight the misinformation on the matter that she also rails against here.

We will be back with you on New Year’s Eve and we hope whatever you’re up to in the next few days goes well.

Blackpool briefing

🏥 It was once a substantial mental health unit in Blackpool – but now the remaining part of Blackpool Victoria Hospital’s Parkwood building is to be demolished. An application has been lodged with Blackpool Council for the demolition of the remaining central block of the Parkwood building on Whinney Heys Road. The Parkwood unit became derelict around 2015 and was fully closed for patient use, with demolition of its East Block starting in early 2020 and the West Block following, as Blackpool Teaching Hospitals Trust moved to digitise records.

📚 Work has been powering forward on Blackpool and The Fylde College’s ambitious new £65m Multiversity campus. Demolition work has been continuing in the Cookson Street area with Morgan Sindall pressing ahead with advancing site preparation work. This project, one of the major developments for Blackpool, is backed by government funding and will bring up to 3,000 students and staff into the town centre. It will offer more than 70 courses, forming a key part of Blackpool’s wider regeneration. It is hoped that the scheme will be completed by late 2027.

🚧 Further details have been revealed about plans for a new purpose-built Scouts headquarters and community hub in Blackpool. The new centre will be located at the former Methodist Church site on Midgeland Road and as well as a Scout centre, it will offer numerous opportunities for the wider community. A planning application has now been submitted to Blackpool Council planners, seeking permission for the erection of a single story building on the site for use as a scout hut and community centre with associated car parking and landscaping.

Council leader slams asylum seeker misinformation in end of year message

The Metropole in Blackpool. Credit: The Blackpool Lead

By Richard Hunt

The leader of Blackpool Council has reflected on what has been an eventful year for the council in a festive message to residents – and was keen to make a point over asylum seekers.

Cllr Lynn Williams says the authority achieved much over 2025 and was keen to discuss issues such as housing as well major new projects for the town.

On the subject of asylum seekers, she slammed the misinformation shared on the issue on social media and reiterated what The Blackpool Lead’s reporting has long shown - that they are not living in luxury.

Cllr Williams said in her message: “This time last year, I was telling you about all the local people involved in building a new office for 3,000 Department of Work and Pensions staff.

“Now it not just been built, but is full of staff. We’re not stopping there, with a new building going up next to the railway station for 1,100 Ministry of Defence staff.

“This time last year, we were talking about the new designs for the Multiversity campus on George Street. Now if you are passing the site you will see demolition work going on, with construction due to commence in the new year.

“There will be 3,000 students using the campus, not just bringing extra people into our town centre, with the benefit to local businesses, but Blackpool and the Fylde College have some very exciting plans about the kind of education and training they will deliver, alongside some of our best employers. This will help our young people prepare for the future and success.

“And this time last year, our most prized asset, The Blackpool Tower, was being managed by a London-based company. Now, the Tower and Madame Tussauds are run by the people of Blackpool, for the people of Blackpool, with Kate Shane at the helm.

“With these key attractions now fully in our control, we’re making sure the local community can more easily benefit from them. Everybody living in Blackpool can now go to our attractions at up to half price, and some of the community will be able to visit them completely free.”

Housing

She continued: “Some of the main new areas of focus for us next year will be changing the face of housing in inner Blackpool with our £90m investment from Homes England, the first development at Silicon Sands the leisure development at Blackpool Central.

“The area around Central Drive hasn’t had the level of investment we would wish in the past, so it is wonderful to be able to make a real difference for and with the community. We know that we are talking about people’s homes and livelihoods, and while we hear from the community that they are fully behind the need for significant and sustained change in the area, the scale of renewal that is needed will be disruptive.

“We are working with people in the area to help explore what this means for them, and very soon there will be planning application available for consultation for the area – giving people the opportunity to see how their voices have shaped what it is proposed will go back in.

“We are, in this initial phase, reducing the overall numbers of homes in an area but it is an area where the density of build is a real barrier to regeneration. It is not the people of inner Blackpool who need to change – it is the quality and safety of the homes and space around them. That will be the catalyst for building on what the best of the community brings to our town.

“We are right to be confident that housing led regeneration will work in this area – because we have seen it delivered for Blackpool. In Queens Park, Grange Park, Mereside and Foxhall Village, we have taken out a significant amount of poor quality flats and put back in homes for our families. Not just building houses, but communities.”

Cllr Williams said the Queens Park estate was once home to five tower blocks, which included a police station. In 2015 the area ranked as the 138th most deprived place in England, now it is 711th.

Asylum seekers in resort

She said: “There’s something really special about Blackpool. A place built on welcoming visitors and one where many people come to make a life for themselves and their families. I love how we’re a mixture of all different identities – it makes our culture stronger. We will all have friends who have moved here over the decades, from every corner of this nation and from around the world.

“We are a vibrant town built on resilience, diversity, and pride.

“There is a lot of discussion about asylum seekers and migration in our town right now — much of it about the use of hotels. Sadly, a lot of what you might see on shared on social media can be misleading and doesn’t lead to healthy debate but can be divisive and make people from all walks of life more fearful than they need to be.

“I want to tell people what is actually happening. Asylum seekers are people who have fled their country and are awaiting a decision from the Home Office on their claim. They have a legal right to be in the UK while they are waiting for a decision from the Home Office.

“For context, more than 141,500 people live in Blackpool. There are around 600 asylum seekers, mainly children and families, who are here temporarily while they wait for their claim to be processed. To put that another way, 99.6% of people in Blackpool are not people seeking asylum and are local residents.

“I don’t believe the Metropole hotel is the best place for asylum seekers to be waiting for a decision, and we raise this with the Home Office regularly. Equally, despite some social media rumours, there are no plans for more hotels to be used in Blackpool.