Multiversity project worth removing people from homes over, argues Blackpool Council
“The Multiversity project is critical to the continued success of the council’s regeneration programme in Blackpool..."
Blackpool Council insisted its Multiversity development is key to the town’s regeneration as a two-week public inquiry began.
The inquiry, which is sitting at the Imperial Hotel on the Promenade, is being held to determine whether the council will be allowed to force through the purchase of homes it wants to demolish to make way for its Multiversity development.
If allowed, that development will see the creation of a state-of-the-art education campus including commercial and research and development space along with public realm improvements.
It is designed with the hope of attracting 3,000 more staff and students and helping give skills and job opportunities to the town’s young residents and is seen as vital for the council’s wider regeneration project.
However, in order to carry out the plans the council must demolish homes around Grosvenor Street and Cookson Street. While the majority of those affected have agreed to sell their homes, some remain in negotiations and around a dozen oppose the proposals but face being forced out regardless.
The public inquiry began at the hotel’s Louis Suite on Tuesday and is due to sit three days this week and again for a week in December.
As a 10-strong group of the council’s senior leaders and legal team sat at one side of the conference room, three members of the public attended the proceedings which are being overseen by Chartered Town Planner Phillip Ware - the man who will decide whether the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) can go ahead.
Explaining the council’s determination for the development to go ahead, Sarah Reid KC said: “The Multiversity project is critical to the continued success of the council’s regeneration programme in Blackpool, is underpinned by extensive public sector funding and commitment, will deliver clear and significant economic, social and environmental benefits to the town and the people of Blackpool. It will transform the order land, which is located within an area in need of regeneration”.
Highlighting the challenges faced in the town, Ms Reid pointed to the high levels of poverty which include Blackpool being home to eight of the 10 most deprived wards in England; below average life expectancy and unemployment rates which are around double the national average.
She said the council’s Growth and Prosperity Programme was established to address the challenges and that Multiversity is a major part of it. The programme’s aim is to maximise growth and opportunity, including through public sector intervention and regeneration. This, she said, has resulted in £164m of grant funding at national level and £800m being committed by the council to regeneration projects over the last 15 years.
Addressing the specific proposal, she said: “The Multiversity scheme will deliver a world class educational facility on the site comprising the order land. This will be operated by Blackpool and the Fylde College, who is the only provider of further and higher education on the Fylde Coast.
“If delivery of new, cutting-edge facilities will maximise opportunities for technical and professional education, training and excellence. It will enable Blackpool College to deliver a new approach to post-18 learning, focusing on stand-alone level 4 and 5 qualifications and flexible learning, integrated within work-based learning and degree apprenticeships.”
The inquiry heard that if the CPO is confirmed, the council believes Phase One of the scheme can begin immediately and be completed in time for the 2027/28 academic year.
The council’s first witness, its Growth and Prosperity Programme Director Nick Gerrard, explained that the conditions of the government funding mean it must be spent by March 2026, though other portions of the overall budget can be used later than that.
He said the success of the Talbot Gateway redevelopment had showcased the positive impact that regeneration can have and that it was essential for the Multiversity to be located near to the town centre and the new business district.
Asked if there was any viability of the development going ahead if an alternative location, Mr Gerrard said: “None. If the scheme doesn’t come forward here, we would have to go completely back to the drawing board.”
Also called to give evidence was Blackpool and the Fylde College Chief Operating Officer Alistair Mulvey who said that community impact was an important aspect of the facility’s purpose.
He said that having a more central location would come with benefits of drastically improved public transport links, being easily accessible by rail and tram as well as bus, along with providing aspiration for residents by being more visible.
Mr Mulvey said the existing site was badly limited by its age and condition, with some buildings unable to be upgraded to allow proper disability access and many requiring expensive maintenance on a regular basis. When asked about the plausibility of knocking down and rebuilding the existing site, he said this would not be financially viable and it would not be possible to continue providing Higher Education while construction work was ongoing.
Mr Mulvey concluded: “Without the multiversity there is a real risk that provision of higher-level skills professional and educational training within Blackpool will decline in the coming decade meaning that the challenges of improving level 4 and above provision becomes greater rather than improving.
“The potential decline in higher education will significantly impact on the overall financial viability of B&FC and adversely impact its ability to address the poor level 2 attainment within Blackpool and the issues Blackpool has with significantly higher levels of NEETs.
“The poor quality environment and the inflexibility of the buildings on the Park Road site, from which to deliver modern education, will not be addressed and the affordability of improvements on any scale will be beyond B&FCs own resources, the result will be a gradual decline in the facilities on the Park Road site.”
He added: “The Talbot Gateway site addresses all of the issues facing the Park Road campus and opens up access, through established transport links, to opportunities not previously afforded Blackpool residents.
“The overall regeneration of the town centre and colocation of world class education facilities therein will further enhance opportunity not only within Blackpool but also across the broader region nationally. The Multiversity, a new concept in itself, will act as a catalyst for further education and skills development linked directly to employment which will support Blackpool for future decades”
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