Blackpool council says Talbot Gateway will survive

BLACKPOOL council has insisted that the £220m regeneration scheme planned for Talbot Gateway will go ahead despite the North West Regional Development Agency’s announcement yesterday that it would no longer be able to provide the £23m of funding it had pledged to the project.

Helen France, Executive Director for Places at Blackpool Council, said: “The announcement made by the NWDA is as a result of changes introduced by the Coalition Government and in no way reflects on the viability of the Talbot Gateway scheme.

The Talbot Gateway scheme is a 25-acre mixed use project planned for the area around Blackpool North station. It includes a new public square facing the station, more than 330,000 sq ft of offices, a 90,000 sq ft foodstore, four new hotels, shops cafes and restaurants. Planning consent for the project was granted in March.

France said that the council had been due to present its case for funding the scheme to a central project review group in October, which would now not take place.

“However, we are looking at alternative methods of supporting the scheme and will be looking to bid to the recently set-up £1bn Regional Growth Fund,” she said.

She added that the firm’s development partner, Salford Quays-based Muse Developments, remained on board with the project.

“We are confident that the Talbot Gateway scheme will still go ahead and remains an important part of our plans for the redevelopment of Blackpool.”

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