ONE WEEK TO GO | Lancashire Development Update 2026

Developers, planners, housing associations, and local authority decision-makers will all impart their wisdom at Place North West’s annual exploration of Lancashire at a crucial time for the county.

With devolution and local government reorganisation taking up so much of the public sector’s bandwidth, how can the private sector plot a course to delivery and profitability against an uncertain backdrop?

Place North West’s exploration of all things property and development in Lancashire will get under the skin of the county’s politics and ask how they are shaping regeneration projects, examine the specific geographical challenges developers and their supply chains are seeking to overcome, and shine a light on the big projects promising jobs and growth.

You will hear from political leaders, housebuilders, mixed-use regeneration specialists, and more at this half-day conference held at the IMAX in Blackpool.

View the finalised agenda and book your ticket

This event is sponsored by Roma Finance, Blackpool Council, and Morgan Sindall Construction.

Tickets cost £90+VAT. There will be a mix of presentations and panels. Breakfast and lunch are included, providing plenty of opportunity for business development.

What you will take away

• Understanding of how the public and private sectors are working together to deliver transformative change in Lancashire

• Insight into how the shifting political and governance landscapes are impacting development and delivery on the ground

• Updates on large projects like Silicon Sands and Eden Project Morecambe

• Analysis of the county’s residential opportunities and challenges from city centres to rural hinterlands

• Valuable contacts for your business

Speakers confirmed

Cllr Lynn Williams is Leader of Blackpool Council. From pioneering education campuses, to leisure schemes worth hundreds of millions, and a transformative approach to neighbourhood renewal, Williams boasts one of the most diverse regeneration pipelines of any North West council leader. She will update us on where those schemes are up to and what they hope to achieve.

Nick Mullins is co-founder of Axis-RE. Having recently acquired three acres in the centre of Lancaster, Axis-RE and joint venture partner Marco Living are drawing up plans for a truly mixed-use scheme featuring homes, entertainment venues, and a health facility. Mullins will share insight into the challenges of delivering this kind of development.

John Winstanley is managing director for strategic land at Story Homes. Housebuilders like Story Homes are alive to the opportunities around Grey Belt and the role it can play in plugging the gap when it comes to housing. Winstanley will explain how this is playing out in Lancashire and shine a light on how housebuilders are ensuring their developments provide quality as well as quantity.

Nick Gerrard is growth and prosperity programme director at Blackpool Council. He manages the growing places division within the local authority, holding responsibility for a range of projects vital to Blackpool’s future, including Talbot Gateway, Multiversity and Silicon Sands, a 50-acre campus project intended to host a raft of data centres at the Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone.

James Scott is managing director of Maple Grove Developments. Active across Lancashire with a variety of schemes from leisure, workspace, and industrial, newly promoted Scott is well-placed to run the rule on which sectors are hot and which are not.

Chris Hayward is director of development and housing at Preston City Council. Armed with a 10-year regeneration strategy that features plans to redevelop land around the city’s train station and deliver on the promise of a 60-acre residential quarter, Preston presents one of the most intriguing investment and development opportunities in the region. Hayward will tell us more about the plans and how he expects them to become reality.

Ian Scott is chief executive of Ocasa Homes. With a growing portfolio of assets, Ocasa recognises the opportunity Lancashire’s expanding population presents. Scott will explain how his company aims to take advantage of that opportunity, discuss the barriers towards delivery in cities like Preston, and tell us how the financials stack up when it comes to resi in Lancashire.

John Pye is project director at Eden Project Morecambe. As the mega-project edges towards a start on site, Pye will let us behind the curtain of this tricky but potentially transformational project and shine a light on the opportunities it could create for the regeneration of Morecambe.

Alex Gardiner is a director at Metro Dynamics. Local government reorganisation and the move towards a more devolved county presents challenges and opportunities in equal measure. Can Lancashire unite around a common cause for the good of its residents or will p[olitical squabbling undermine growth ambitions. Gardiner is perfectly placed to explain.

Deborah Smith is managing director at Smith & Love Planning Consultants. You are never too far from a planning row in Lancashire. Smith will provide expert analysis on the county’s planning landscape – from the Grey Belt v Green Belt debate to disputed housing land supply positions – and give examples of how her clients are navigating the constantly evolving planning system.

Mo Isap is chair of the Lancashire Business Board and founder of IN4 Group. The £20bn Lancashire Growth Plan sets out a pipeline of major projects Lancashire is pinning its growth prospects to. Isap will tell us about the reasons these schemes have been selected and set the scene for the day by providing insight into market sentiment in Lancashire amid chopping economic waters.

Saira Hussain is a partner and founder of HAD & Co, a female led architectural practice based in Burnley. Active across the residential sector from HMOs to to care homes, Hussain is well-placed to speak to the shifting priorities of her clients and how residential development is shaping Lancashire.

Les Warren is executive director at Progress Housing Group. Following the government’s adoption of a £39bn affordable housing programme, all eyes are on housing associations and registered providers to see how they will leverage the cash injection. Warren will outline the challenges facing his organisation and others like it when it comes to refurbishing existing stock and building new.