Views sought on £65m ‘perception-changing’ Blackpool project
Spanning 190,000 sq ft, the Multiversity higher education facility aims to upskill the town’s population and improve employment prospects.
Blackpool Council is working to assemble the land required to deliver the project and has now launched a consultation on the Multiversity proposals ahead of the submission of an outline planning application before the end of the year.
Have your say on the proposals
Planning consultant Avison Young is leading the consultation, which will run until 6 November.
Blackpool Council secured £40m of the cash needed to deliver the £65m project from the government’s Levelling Up Fund.
The council’s bid said the Multiversity would “act as a beacon to promote higher-level skills, engage employers in curriculum co-design and change perceptions of the town”.
At present, there is a skills and productivity gap between Blackpool and the rest of the country – 28.8% of Blackpool residents hold an NVQ4+ qualification, compared to 43.5% in Great Britain, according to the bid.
The Multiversity would seek to close this gap by upskilling residents, offering courses in automation, mobility, artificial intelligence, data, population ageing, and sustainability.
As well as improving the job prospects of local residents, the project would regenerate an area currently occupied by a “significant area of poor-quality residential stock within the heart of Blackpool”.
To unlock the project, Blackpool Council needs to take control of an area around Cookson Street, Milbourne Street, George Street, and Grosvenor Street, close to the town’s main train station.
There is a “compelling case in the public interest” for compulsory acquisition of properties off according to a recent report to Blackpool Council’s executive.
The proposals form the latest phase of the wider regeneration of Talbot Gateway, a project that has already seen the delivery of a 120,000 sq ft office, a 60,000 sq ft Sainsbury’s, and a 600-space multi-storey car park.
Construction of a 144-bedroom Holdiay Inn is due to wrap up next spring, while the creation of a 200,000 sq ft hub for the Department for Work and Pensions is underway.
Designed by Hawkins\Brown, the Multiversity would be leased by the council to Blackpool & Fylde College from April 2026.
It is hoped that the facility will be in operation for the 2026/27 academic year, once the college has relocated from its existing Park Road Campus.
I am all for it. It would be an improvement on every level.
By Rosalyn
Well how about doing more for rough sleepers and low income families. That would be a great start. So many empty buildings could be done up to make flats to help people with mental health problems and disabilities but certainly not the migrants we need to look after our own people first
By G Dean
You need to clean up Central drive and demolish most of Bond street street along along with other disgusting areas
By Anonymous
Almost every shop in Blackpool has empty premises above this could be use for accommodation is there no one who will take notice
By S.B.
Money would be better spent on improving the look of the town to encourage visitors not for just a minority
By Anonymous
Definitely needs a revamp. Area is an eyesore and also red light district.
Not what visitors or locals want to see everyday.
Sorry for the decent families having to move but it’s sorely in need of improving.
By Anonymous
This is an exciting opportunity for Blackpool and the comments I would like to make is for the local residents and visitor’s to Blackpool it’s going to make a real difference for the economy but mostly it keeps Blackpool on the map as somewhere to visit and looks good .
By Kathleen J Bentley-Roberts
It’s about time they started spending money in central and south shore,they are a disgrace to the town everything is for the north side of Blackpool
By Anonymous
These unskilled “residents” move here because accommodation is cheap off-season and in summer there are unskilled jobs. The poor unskilled do not stay in Hale like, even if born and raised there, they drift away and end up in cities or towns like Blackpool. Our national economy is a tale of two worlds and therefore two politico-socio-economic worlds. Property and place making must reflect this. There must be a professional or vocational college (not a ‘Multiversity’ ) in EVERY town for every school-leaving child.
By Anonymous
Utterly wasteful and unnecessary. Spend the £65m upgrading existing educational facilities would help more people. However, the real issue is WHY people in Blackpool have such low educational asperations and what can be done to change that.
By Bernard Fender
Main concern for me is hopefully there would be a decent student campus put up to get away from the poor housing stock in the area and parking issues , the area around there needs looking at as well as church st , park road junction which are a bottle neck now the redevelopment needs to go a head and hopefully bring a lot off life back into topping st
By Vincent Carroll
An excellent proposal that will definitely improve what is currently very run down, bring employment and other opportunities, and greater footfall for businesses in that part of town. Go for it.
By Barry
Concentrate on knocking stuff down such as Hartes on Waterloo Road.Heard someone wants a car park there,got to be better than now.Feel sorry for Notarianni’s next door to it.
By Anonymous