Disabled pensioner blocked from her sea view | Multiversity moves closer | Climate plan for Blackpool
The Blackpool Lead edition 39 - and the very first from Substack - tells the story of Doreen Jackson and her concern she will die before she gets to enjoy a sea view from her flat
A disabled pensioner fears she will die before she gets to enjoy the sea view from her Promenade home - because of large blue hoardings that have been there for a decade.
Retired hotelier Doreen Jackson, 86, has been told the solid wooden fencing opposite her ground floor flat on Queen’s Promenade, opposite the Little Bispham tram stop, will be there for at least another four years, despite the council car park-cum-compound it surrounds currently sitting empty.
She told The Blackpool Lead: “It’s soul destroying, looking at it. I will be dead before I even get to see the sea.”
Mrs Jackson, a widow originally from Leeds, used to live in a third-floor flat in nearby Haddon Court and would enjoy the western sunsets from her balcony with a glass of wine.
After moving to her rented home on Queen’s Promenade several years ago, she hoped her view of the hoardings, which have been there since 2014, would be short lived.
But they have continued to block the view for dozens of residents living opposite.
Mrs Jackson’s mood hit rock bottom four years ago when she had her leg amputated - after she cut her toe and developed a severe infection - and was left housebound.
“I was on a waiting list for a ramp and could not get around easily,” she said from her home recently as the sun sank slowly, albeit out of sight, below the horizon.
“I only had the living room and bedroom for around a year. There were some days when I thought, ‘What’s the point? Why am I even here?
“My health suffered terribly because I just sat here and looked behind me there and that (the hoardings) was all I saw. I couldn’t see anything else. I didn’t see many people, I couldn’t get out and it has really affected me.”
Mrs Jackson said she has always wanted to live beside the sea and, despite moving into her spacious home after the hoarding had already been put up, “never expected it to be here this long”.
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Work on £65m Multiversity project expected in 2025 but public inquiry looms
Work could begin to build Blackpool’s £65m multiversity in May or June next year providing the site has been assembled.
Blackpool Council has now acquired more than 70 per cent of the properties required for the scheme through negotiation.
However a public inquiry is due to begin on November 12 in front of an independent planning inspector after 13 objections were received to a compulsory purchase order (CPO) for the remaining properties.
The order was made in April by Blackpool Council to buy up land between Cookson Street, Milbourne Street, George Street and Grosvenor Street.
Nick Gerrard, growth and prosperity manager at the council, said the council had to show the CPO was in the public interest with fair compensation given to those who were displaced.
He told a meeting of the council’s Tourism, Economy and Communities Scrutiny Committee: “CPOs are a tool to drive regeneration.”
He added the council was continuing to negotiate to buy property which had led to some of the 13 objections now being withdrawn. A decision following the public inquiry is expected early in the new year.
Coun Mark Smith, cabinet member for economy and built environment, said residents who were displaced were being offered support to either find a new rental property or buy a new home.
He said: “These are people’s homes and we need to ensure if they need help with relocating there is enough support as possible.”
The development is being financed with £9m from the Town Deal to assemble the site and a £4m Levelling Up Fund grant for the construction of the new building, with £16m provided by Blackpool and the Fylde College through a lease.
A report to the committee says: “In terms of the main construction of the project, the main contract is due to commence in May/June 2025 subject to the site being assembled in time.”
It adds the core design team (Hawkins Brown) is progressing designs and Morgan Sindall has been confirmed as the main contractor.
The council’s Planning Committee unanimously approved an application in April for the demolition of an area including 59 homes, and an outline application for the construction of three buildings on the site.
How will Blackpool’s tourism strategy adapt to climate change?
Blackpool is getting warmer – but also wetter – according to the latest climate pattern statistics and the changes could result in more tourists visiting the resort.
Figures show temperatures in Blackpool are almost one degree (Centigrade) hotter compared to 60 years ago and there have been more hours of sunshine in recent years.
Now councillors have approved a strategy setting out how the council will adapt to climate changes in coming years as the planet heats up.
The Climate Adaptation Plan 2024 to 2029 sets out how different departments and public health will prepare for hotter summers, more rainfall and the possibility of more extreme weather which could lead to flooding.
The strategy, which was approved by Blackpool Council’s executive, warns Blackpool is likely to experience the following as a result of climate change:
Warmer, wetter winters
Hotter, drier summers
More frequent and intense weather extremes
Increased sea level rise.
Climate figures from the Met Office comparing the period of 1961 to 1990 and 1991 to 2020 show average maximum temperatures have increased by 0.81 degrees, and average minimum temperatures have increased by 0.88 degrees.
The figures, which are included in the council’s strategy, also show there were 61 more hours of sunshine per year between 1991 and 2020, compared to between 1961 and 1990.
Indicators show slight increases in wind speed and a decrease in the number of days with frost which the report says ” indicates that Blackpool has experienced fewer frosty days, which aligns with the general warming trend observed in annual temperature averages.”
The strategy sets out a raft of actions which the council and its companies including the Winter Gardens and Blackpool Transport expect to take to ensure they are prepared for potentially warmer temperatures.
This includes expectations of higher visitor numbers if there are more heat waves and ensuring “adequate resource to deal with the increasing number of visitors by having sufficient staffing levels and fit for purpose equipment on the beach and promenade.”
More storms could lead to an increase risk to some of Blackpool’s historic sites inducing the piers with the council’s heritage team saying its duties would include monitoring ” the condition of North Pier and report to enforcement/building control any issues as and when they become apparent.
Rising sea levels could also threaten the beaches, with Blackpool Council recently securing a further £11m from the Environment Agency for extended sea defence works in Anchorsholme which will address beach lowering.
Work will include rock groynes, to protect coastal defences, reduce erosion and maintain the beach.
Regeneration chiefs say they remain committed to transforming Blackpool’s rundown former main post office into a luxury boutique hotel.
The £26m scheme to redevelop the former post office on Abingdon Street has been delayed but is supported by £8m of Levelling Up funding from the previous government.
It is due to be converted into an Indigo-branded hotel with agreements now in the process of being signed with developer Ashall Developments, which will pave the way for surveys to demonstrate if the project remains viable or not.
The Grade II listed building has been empty since 2007 and has since fallen into disrepair with many of the windows now broken and the iconic phone boxes at the front, which are also Grade II listed, also in a bad state of repair.
The group of eight cast iron telephone kiosks were designed in 1935 by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.
Recent anti-social behaviour at the site has included reports of youths climbing on the roof of the building.
A report to a meeting of the council’s Tourism, Economy and Communities Scrutiny Committee says agreements for the sale of the building to Ashall Developments and a grant funding agreement between them and the council are close to being confirmed.
Plans to build hundreds of houses on the edge of Blackpool are back on the table after proposals have stalled over many years.
Proposals for Whyndyke Garden Village on Preston New Road were first mooted as far back as 2011 with a vision set out for a ‘healthy living’ approach to the scheme for up to 1,400 new homes.
Outline planning permission was granted in 2015 but work has yet to begin on the 225-acre site. Four years ago a revised blueprint emerged, but work still failed to start with the land reverting to use for a car boot sale during the summer this year.
Now revised proposals have been submitted once more to Blackpool Council for the development, which also includes a primary school, community centres, a pub and a health centre.
Blackpool South MP Chris Webb has called for urgent action to address the demands of the Waspi women campaign after raising the issue in Parliament.
Mr Webb quizzed Secretary of State for the DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) Liz Kendal, saying it was time justice was given to women born in the 1950s who have missed out on pension payments after their retirement age was changed.
The retirement age for both men and women was increased to 66 having previously been 60 for women and 65 for men, and is due to increase further to 67. The Waspi campaign says women born in the 1950s were not given adequate notice about the changes and so could not make financial arrangements in time.
Addressing Parliament, Mr Webb said: “I first joined the Waspi women in their campaign activity in 2017. Seven years later they are still fighting for justice.
“Can the minister ensure women in my constituency and across the country that she will act urgently, unlike the previous government and bring this injustice to an end?”
A Parliamentary and Health Ombudsman report published earlier this year says the government had failed to adequately inform women born in the 1950s about the impact of changes.
A Blackpool coroner has shared details of a disabled woman’s death at the hands of her mum.
Debbie Leitch, 24, who had Down's Syndrome, was found dead at her home in Garden Terrace, South Shore in August 2019.
Mum Elaine Clarke, who was her daughter’s full-time paid carer, was jailed for nine years and seven months after pleading guilty to gross negligence manslaughter in 2022.
Senior coroner for Blackpool and Fylde - opened a three-day inquest into Ms Leitch’s death, and revealed her mum had refused to take part in the process. Full report from The Gazette here.
A jury has been unable to reach a verdict in the trial of a man accused of killing Blackpool FC supporter Tony Johnson during a post-match brawl.
Mr Johnson, 55, died after suffering a serious head injury outside a pub in Blackpool following a match between Blackpool and Burnley on March 4, 2023.
Jake Balmforth, 34, of Tarvin Close, Burnley, was accused of manslaughter but denied the allegation. Following a five day trial at Preston Crown Court the jury was unable to reach a verdict. Full report from Rachel Smith at LancsLive here.
Lastly, the team that create Blackpool Illuminations have made a contribution to one of London’s most iconic entertainment districts.
The Lightworks team, based near Blackpool Airport, produced eight spectacular neon pieces in collaboration with internationally-renowned artist, Chila Kumari Singh Burman MBE to create an illuminated art trail in Leicester Square Gardens.
Chila, who has already designed a tableau for the Blackpool Illuminations display, invited the team to produce the neon works after she was commissioned by the Art Of London event to feature in the annual Art After Dark programme.
Chila said:
“I’m made up to unveil my vibrant neon installation. Through a series of glowing artworks, it invited people to experience the West End of London at night and discover how I pay homage to iconic figures of Indian feminism, and used landmarks like the water fountain in Leicester Square Gardens to spread joy and celebrate London’s diverse communities.”
The London event took place just a few days ahead of Blackpool opening its own award-winning light festival, Lightpool.
The amazing free-to-see programme of light installations, 3D projection shows, art trails, and stunning live performances will run from October 18 to 26.
Thank you for reading issue number 39 of The Blackpool Lead - and our very first on Substack. We hope you enjoy the rest of your week, and we’ll speak to you soon.