Council to seek new developer following collapse of £300m scheme

Council chiefs will start seeking a new developer early next year after plans for a £300m leisure scheme in the heart of Blackpool collapsed.

Developer Nikal had been working with Blackpool Council since 2016 to bring indoor theme parks, hotels and restaurants to the Central Station site.

But in October it was revealed Nikal had appointed administrators, leaving the proposals in tatters with just a multi-storey car park built on the site.

In a report set to go before the full council on Wednesday (November 27), council leader Coun Lynn Williams confirms remaining buildings on the site – the former police station and magistrates court – are still due to be demolished.

The buildings have been targeted in recent times by so-called ‘urban explorers’ gaining unlawful entry.

Coun Williams says clearing the site will mean the council can offer a better deal to potential new developers. A Land Sale Agreement, signed between Nikal and the council in January 2020 will also be terminated, with a recommendation due to go before a meeting of the executive in December.

In the meantime the council may also consider alternative uses of the 17 acre site for the interim.

Coun Williams says in her report: “Whilst this is clearly a setback, the council’s stated ambition to see a major leisure-led development on the site remains unchanged.

“Over the course of the past few years we have been preparing the site to be drawn down by the developer. Work has included undertaking and having a CPO (compulsory purchase order) confirmed, negotiating and securing funding for the relocation of the courts, and we are soon to commence the demolition of the former courts and police station.

“In addition, Nikal has completed the first phase of the development with the construction of the new 1,306 space multi-storey car park.”

Coun Williams says the investment has come at no capital cost to the council with the work putting it “in a strong position, with major obstacles having been overcome meaning that the site is now much more attractive and ready for development.”

She adds: “The council will seek the appointment of professional commercial/leisure agents to take the site out to the market early in the new year.

“In the interim we may look at further opportunity for uses of the

site pending future development to ensure that the momentum to bring new exciting attractions continues.”

Proposals for the £300m scheme first came forward in 2016 when the council entered into an exclusivity agreement with Nikal Ltd and Media Invest Entertainment.

It had been hoped to develop the site, which was cleared in the 1960s after the closure of Central Railway Station,  in phases with the first phase originally due to open in summer this year.

The 17 acre site had also previously been earmarked for a super casino but those plans also fell through.