The £300m Blackpool Central development on the famous Golden Mile is described as the biggest single investment in Blackpool for more than a century. Plans for the 15-acres site include an indoor amusement park as well as hotels, restaurants and residential apartments.
However, Nikal Ltd, the Manchester-based developer of Blackpool Central, went into administration in October after a legal dispute with one of its contractors. According to local press reports, the developer was sued by Ballast Nedam, which earlier this year had completed the scheme’s multi-storey car park and was claiming payment. Nikal could not raise the £4.6m owed to the contractor and folded.
Blackpool Council has not agreed to appoint new commercial marketing agents to promote the site to international investors, terminating the previous agreement with Nikal.
The council has also appointed DSM Demolition to demolish the old police station, municipal courts and the old joke shop on Central Drive, starting early in the new year. The cost for the demolition will be met from funding allocated by central government as part of the Blackpool Town Deal, announced in 2022.
Blackpool Council leader Lynn Williams said: “Blackpool Central sits right at the heart of our plans to make Blackpool better for everybody. We’re committed to attracting a world-class leisure development that creates jobs for our local people, extends our tourism season to be all year round and supports our local economy to grow.
“In the last five years at Blackpool Central, we’ve made more progress on this site than the 50 years before it since the Blackpool Central train station closed in the 1960s, largely paid for by the private sector without risking council tax payer’s money.
“The road to regeneration isn’t always smooth but we will not stand still. We will continue our plans to demolish the courts and the police station early in the new year, in order to create a shovel ready site for a new leisure attraction.”
