PLANS to demolish up to 400 properties in central Blackpool have created a culture of fear, the assistant curate leading Beacon Church, the parish church, said this week.
The curate, the Revd Matt Lockwood warned that the plans, which will draw on a £90-million fund granted by the last government, had caused a deterioration in mental health among residents, anxious about Compulsory Purchase Orders and their ability to remain in the area.
The £90-million allocation from Homes England’s Brownfield Infrastructure Land Fund was announced by Michael Gove, then the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, in 2024. After consultation, a 15-year “Central Housing Regeneration Area Framework” was published. Existing housing — some of the worst in the country — was a “significant barrier to Blackpool fulfilling its potential”, it said. The plans would “create a mix of high quality homes in safe and welcoming neighbourhoods with good local amenities, green open spaces and places to play and be together”.
The framework identified, among the challenges, a drastic reduction in tourism in Blackpool, resulting in the subdivision of many guest houses into poor-quality privately rented residential accommodation. It also listed a high number of homes occupied by numerous households (three-quarters of which rented for short periods of time, “which undermines community spirit”) landlords who did not maintain or manage their properties well, and concentrations of households dependent on housing benefits, “which collectively undermines the quality of the environment and the social and economic sustainability of communities in the area”. Of 679 properties inspected, two-thirds were found to have a Category 1 Hazard (could lead to death or serious injury). Private-sector investment would only be secured by tackling of such issues, it concluded.
ERIN SERRAIMAHousing in the Revoe area
The council is currently seeking planning permission to demolish up to 400 existing properties within a “red-line” area of Mr Lockwood’s parish as agreed in March 2025. It has set out a vision to replace the demolished properties with 230 new dwellings alongside more green and communal spaces — although this is dependent on attracting private-sector investment. Compulsory purchase orders could be used as “a last resort” and “where there is a compelling case in the public interest”, it said last year. Home visits, drop-in sessions, and surveys would be carried out as part of a community engagement programme.
This week, Mr Lockwood spoke about his work as chair of the neighbourhood action group Revoe Together. The group was not opposed to regeneration, he said, “it’s the way they are doing it. I and many others have concerns about how power is being used.” A “top-down” approach had been taken. “In reality, they have just said to people ‘We are going to knock down your housing but give you support to find somewhere else to go and you won’t be able to return.’” This had created a “culture of fear” and residents were feeling they needed to “beat the rush” to leave, he said.
Most people in the area were privately renting, and the waiting-list for social housing in the area already had thousands of people registered. One older man had been offered far less than he had paid for his house while another family with a three-bedroom part-owned house had been told they only needed a one-bedroom flat. A man with “acute mental health issues” had been offered two “awful” properties.
“What we want is for the community to be empowered rather than completely disempowered, to see lasting change for their community for the benefit of them and people who live there presently,” he said. “Part of that is saying we want people to have a right to return and come back.”
The Council acknowledged in an Equality Analysis last year that some residents would find it difficult to remain in the area. “The Council acknowledges the existing community will witness negative experiences in the short term as the area around them is assembled for demolition but it is important to remember the purpose of the project.”