No, Blackpool is not about to ban 'vertical drinking' in pubs
Is Blackpool just another WOKE COUNCIL cracking down on vertical drinking? Well, not really.
Hello and welcome to The Blackpool Lead.
It’s feasible you’d never heard of ‘vertical drinking’ before this week. Actually, it’s feasible you’ve never heard of ‘vertical drinking’ before.
It essentially refers to standing up when you’re having a pint - something thought of generally as a very British thing.
And there’s nothing that gets outlets like GB News and The Sun out of newsy bed quite like suggesting something British is under threat. “Can we get the word woke into this headline?” you imagine they ask. Whether something is actually under threat is secondary.
So from that comes the reports over the last week that Blackpool Council is looking to BAN vertical drinking. Reader: it is not looking to do that.
For today’s edition, we unpick exactly what’s happened there because reading writing about Blackpool put together from London is never a good plan.
Blackpool briefing
🎞️ Part of the former Odeon Cinema building in Blackpool could return to its former use as a cinema under new proposals.
A scheme is being put forward which would see a nine-screen cinema complex operating from the west side of the huge Rigby Road premises.
The former Odeon multiplex on Rigby Road permanently closed on June 5, 2023, after its lease expired.
However, in June this year more than half of the building was re-opened as a major entertainments complex by operator Tenpin.
The Tenpin site includes 24 state-of-the-art bowling lanes, an immersive 4D laser tag arena for high-energy group battles, Houdini’s escape rooms, private karaoke rooms, a games arcade, modern darts, a children’ play area and a bar with light bites.
However, there is still considerable space left in the other side of the building which currently lies vacant.
📚 A Blackpool primary school has been given the green light to construct an external canopy and two metre high mesh fencing.
Westminster Primary Academy, on Westminster Road in North Shore, submitted a planning application to Blackpool Council seeking permission for the scheme.
The proposals were aimed at improving security in the school, particularly to support its special educational needs (SEND) provision.
The application was for a Lawful Development Certificate, which would mean the application would not require planning permission.
Blackpool Council’s Head of Development management said the proposals would come under ‘permitted development’, meaning that in this case the applicant would be able to build, expand, or change the use of a property without submitting a formal planning application.
Accordingly, the application was permitted.
🏠 Proposals have been made to use a semi-detached house in Blackpool as a residential home for up to two adults in receipt of care.
A planning application has been submitted to Blackpool Council for a Lawful Development Certificate for the scheme, at a property at 7 Sandon Place, South Shore.
A Lawful Development Certificate (LDC) is an official legal document from the council, confirming that a building use or development is lawful for planning purposes.
If granted, it proves that the specific work or use cannot face council enforcement action. The statement says the proposal does not materially alter the planning character of the existing dwellinghouse.
In particular, no physical alterations are proposed and the property will remain visually indistinguishable from neighbouring houses. There will be no commercial signage, no reception or administrative office and no members of the public will visit the property as part of its operation.
Staffing will comprise daytime support together with one overnight sleep-in worker, while vehicle movements will remain comparable to those associated with a typical family home.
No, Blackpool is not about to ban ‘vertical drinking’ in pubs
By Michael Holmes
Hold on to your kiss-me-quick hats - because town hall bosses in Blackpool have promised not to ban so-called “vertical drinking”.
It comes after pint-sized panic was sparked by speculation in corners of the national press that standing up while enjoying a drink in the resort would be outlawed for locals and tourists alike.
Reports in The Sun and GB News had suggested - based on language used in licensing papers - that it will be bottoms down when it comes to bottoms up by the seaside.
Blackpool Council was branded a ‘woke council’ in those reports.
But the claims have been blasted as “misleading” by authority chiefs, who say they are simply trying to clean up Blackpool’s party hub image.
“Applications for premises whose predominant offer is vertical drinking are not encouraged,” the cited documents say.
“But if applications are made for such premises, it is expected that the operating schedule will demonstrate robust arrangements for promoting the licensing objectives.”
Speaking after London’s Westminster Council triggered widespread furore by consulting on a policy encouraging bar staff to put out tables and chairs in place of space to drink standing up, a spokesperson for Blackpool said discouraging predominantly vertical-drinking holes has been part of its policy for over a decade.
“It isn’t a ban on ‘vertical-drinking’ establishments and it also doesn’t mean people can’t order drinks at a bar or stand within premises,” they told The Blackpool Lead, however.
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