Yet Another Development Announcement

A 50 hectare area of land conveniently close to Whitehills Business Park has been encompassed in a so-called masterplan which will, according to.. well.. the Gasjet don’t say.. create 7000 jobs in the area.

Milton-Keynes based planners David Lock Associates were commissioned jointly by Fylde Borough Council and Blackpool Borough Council to produce this plan as part of the “Blackpool Core Strategy”. By 2026 it has been stated that Blackpool must have planning approval for 10200 new homes, 1738 of which have already been built and 1261 already have planning permission or are under construction.

Redevelopment of the urban area has been ruled out by the council because they think the Government wouldn’t commit to funding it. No, they haven’t asked. But they have assumed that if they proposed this option, the Government would direct them to choose other sites instead, with resulting delays causing house building decisions to be determined through planning appeals rather than by the relevant councils. Kensington Developments currently have 2000 homes at Moss House Road, Hollywood Nurseries, Whitehills, Queensway and Lytham Quays under appeal.

Are the council saying that rather than take on the developer they would rather admit defeat in the first place and give them whatever they want?

The Plan is to create a cluster of residential neighbourhoods around a new District Centre at the junction of Progress Way and Cropper Road. These neighbourhoods would accommodate approximately 7,000 new homes supported by a range of community facilities. The District Centre would incorporate a new secondary school, shops and other facilities. Whitehills Business Park would be extended and potentially supplemented by new business land between Preston New Road and the M.55.

Interestingly there is no mention of Kensington or Marton Moss in the article despite all of the land including Whitehills Business Park being owned by them and all development being done by them. I don’t know whether this is an active ploy by the Gasjet to whitewash this story and get people talking about potential jobs rather than whose palms have been greased and by how much, but given the way they tend to accept and regurgitate press releases from companies I wouldn’t be too shocked.

Fylde councillor John Coombes has made himself look a bit of an idiot, though.

The whole concept of the M55 hub is about putting quality housing close to schools, shops and places of employment. If the population is expanding to that extent then obviously we need the jobs to go with it as well.

If he really thinks that, then he’s lost his marbles. The only way these houses could be filled is by new population so it has to be the case that the jobs must exist before building 7000 new homes, else why would anyone have a reason to relocate here?

Assuming each of these 7000 homes has 2.4 children, that makes an additional 16800 children in the running for school places too. Is the infrastructure there? Only a single school features in this masterplan. Indeed, only 3 short paragraphs in the Council’s 15 page report on this development are about infrastructure.

There seems to be some delusion that everyone living in these new developments will be utopian bike riding eco warriors, no doubt living in “carbon neutral” homes eating lentils;

Walking and cycling would be the preferred methods of travel within the Hub. Express bus links would connect directly into Blackpool Town Centre.

This development masterplan is;

seen as not just meeting a quantitative need, but is fundamentally required to address the lack of wider quality new housing, attract higher income earning households and provide sufficient choice for Blackpool’s resident population, particularly for family housing.

So these homes will not be so-called “affordable” homes and to expect there to suddenly be 7000+ professional grade jobs to accommodate these people is just laughable. It’s totally the wrong type of housing for this area. Sure, I do think that Blackpool needs an influx of educated people with a bit of money, but the only way that’s going to happen is if big companies are enticed to relocate. Blackpool requires a mix of all types of housing.

It is at the moment absolutely nailed on that we will be getting this development. The Government is turning the screw and the council has capitulated in fear that they will lose the miniscule amount of control they have over this plan if they apply for cash to buy up and regenerate the town centre rather than let Kensington build on land that it already owns.

This example has to be a demonstration of why we need a more inclusive political system. To give one party so much power based on land boundaries rather than actual vote numbers is just wrong. To allow Whitehall bureaucrats to orchestrate the slash and burn of our open spaces and good quality agricultural land makes me wonder what use having a MP is.

I don’t think Ron Bell would be too bothered either, since this development conveniently excludes Division Lane…