Deprived area set to be restored to 'heyday'

Part of one of England's most deprived areas would be brought "back to its heyday" by a major regeneration project, according to a council.

Blackpool Council leader Lynn Williams said the authority wanted to improve housing quality around Central Drive in the town, using government Levelling Up funding.

The planning application includes demolishing up to 300 properties and building a new neighbourhood, alongside new shops, green spaces and community facilities.

"People have been telling us for decades that we need to do something about Central Drive and the surrounding area – and this is exactly what we plan to do," Williams said.

Williams said the major regeneration plan was part of "its wider vision to restore the area back to its heyday".

It aimed to make the neighbourhood somewhere people wanted to raise their children, with quality homes, nice streets and play areas, reduced crime, lower energy bills and more jobs, she said.

The project is supported by the £90m levelling up grant to transform squalid and damp housing.

Williams said the council had been given "a once‑in‑a‑generation opportunity to transform one of the areas most in need of regeneration in Blackpool.

"The area is the third most deprived in the country and doing nothing is not an option."

Williams said smaller schemes had "been tried before and have failed – this area and the people who live here deserve something transformational".

Some residents have expressed concern about the plans, including Reverend Matt Lockwood, from Beacon Church and Revoe Together, who said many of his congregation were facing "confusion, fear and not knowing what's going to happen".

But Peter O'Dee, who owns a shop in Revoe, has backed the proposal, saying the area "wants regenerating" as "it's terrible".

"All the houses are full of damp, they're over 100 years old," he said.

The planning application also seeks outline planning consent to build 230 modern, energy efficient homes, with the authority hoping all of the new houses will be social housing, in a bid "to break the stranglehold of private rented housing in the area".

Residents living in the affected area are invited to contact the council for support with finding a new home and accessing compensation.

Williams said she wanted to reassure residents that there was "a full support team to help them find somewhere suitable to live and be compensated for the disruption".

"If that involves staying local, then we will try everything to make that happen," she said.

The authority said it also wanted to bring in international investors to create a new large leisure scheme, build more social housing at Foxhall Village, a new community sports village at Blackpool Football Club and to make improvements to Revoe Park.

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