Business Partnerships Report – March 18, 2016

Section 1: Visitor Economy

NICKELODEON SLIMEFEST VisitBlackpool is partnering with global children’s TV network Nickelodeon to present the first SLIMEFEST event in the UK.

SLIMEFEST, which has already been staged in Australia, Spain and Italy, will form part of Blackpool’s Illuminations Switch-On weekend with free and paid-for family events taking place throughout Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th September.

The SLIMEFEST live ticketed shows will take place at the Empress Ballroom at the Winter Gardens on the Saturday night, with the free outdoor festival staged in the Switch-On arena at the Tower Festival Headland throughout the weekend.

Highlights from SLIMEFEST will be broadcast on the Nickelodeon channel later that month.

Arrangements for the Friday night Switch On event, which last year featured Hollywood film director, Tim Burton, are still at the discussion stage.

TIM BURTON FILM LAUNCH 20TH Century Fox has announced that the Tim Burton movie partly filmed in Blackpool last year will now go on worldwide release in the autumn.

Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children will open in UK and US cinemas at the end of September.

The initial “teaser publicity” is now being released including posters (pictured right) and the first trailer which can be viewed here: http://foxfilm.co/MissPeregrineUK

The Blackpool scenes were filmed on location in and around Blackpool Tower, and featured actor Samuel L Jackson.

THE BLACKPOOL TOWER Heritage Award The Blackpool Tower has won a heritage award – more than 120 years after it was built.

The iconic structure was given the first North West Civil Engineering Heritage Award by the Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE), beating 12 other entries including Manchester’s Victoria Station.

The Institute described The Blackpool Tower as “possibly the most instantly recognisable work of civil engineering in the country”.

 The restoration work on the Tower structure is now nearing completion with the last remaining scaffolding expected to be removed by Easter.

Tower Lounge Work is underway on conversion of the former Tower Lounge into a new Harry Ramsden fish restaurant.

The restaurant, along with a quick service outlet, and a further eatery within the Tower complex, is expected to open early summer.

Harry Ramsden’s parent company is investing around £2m in the project, which will create up to 100 new jobs as well as safeguarding the 30 that are employed in Ramsden’s current outlet opposite Festival House.

LOVE THE NORTH VisitEngland launched a £1m marketing campaign to reassure tourists that Lancashire is “open for business” following the floods at the turn of the year.

The campaign, entitled #lovethenorth, is part of a Spring initiative to encourage British families and couples to spend their Easter holidays in the North of England.

It is targeting audiences in London and the South East, with activity including London Underground posters, national press, radio, digital and social media.

The campaign is supported by Virgin Trains, which is offering discounted travel to those areas affected by flooding.

EVENTS GUIDE The new Blackpool Events Guide for 2016 has now been published. The pocket-sized guide features events from Easter until the end of the year. It will be distributed throughout the resort with an e-version available on the VisitBlackpool website.

BEST OF BRITISH Top Gear presenter and Radio 2 personality Chris Evans and new co-star, former Friends actor Matt Le Blanc celebrated their first road trip together – with a hair-raising journey to Blackpool!

The pair arrived in the resort after a 230-mile drive from London in open topped, three- wheeled Reliant Robins.

Matt and Chris delighted visitors by stopping off for a fish and chip supper at Harry Ramsden's on the Promenade.

After his arrival in the resort, the DJ tweeted: “Blackpool is so brilliantly British today….”

The pair of them competed in a series of GB v USA challenges, including a tug’o’war on the beach and a Jeep v Land Rover clash on the Lower Walk, close to North Pier.

The Blackpool scenes will be broadcast in one of the first episodes of the new Top Gear series, due to go out on the BBC in May.

There was extensive media coverage of the Top Gear trip to Blackpool with the Daily Mail Online carrying no less than 20 photographs and coverage extending as far as the New Zealand Herald.

BEACH CONSULTATION A consultation aimed at helping improve Blackpool’s sea water quality is now underway.

Residents will be asked for their views on plans to introduce a Public Spaces Protection Order to make the beach between South Pier and the Solaris Centre dog free between May and September.

The order would also make the area between Duchess Drive and Sandhurst Avenue in Bispham dog free during the same period.

Dogs are already prohibited on the beach between North Pier and South Pier during that period.

All four of Blackpool’s bathing water sites passed the revised EU bathing water regulations last year, but as the new regulations are twice as strict, moves are being made to make sure that the sea water quality can continue to pass in the future.

Assistance and guide dogs would be exempt from the order and people would still be allowed to walk dogs on the promenade, providing they are kept on a lead.

The consultation runs on the Blackpool Council website, www.blackpool.gov.uk until April 11.

GHOST EXTENSION Hit musical Ghost is to extend its Blackpool run this autumn due to audience demand. The new musical production based on the cinema blockbuster begins its run at Blackpool Opera House on Monday October 3 and was originally scheduled for six nights.

Due to heavy demand for tickets since Ghost went on sale last month, it has been decided to extend the run by a further five nights between October 11 and 15.

 The Winter Gardens has also announced two more touring shows to its extensive programme for 2016. Children’s show James And The Giant Peach will be staged at the Opera House from July 18-23 as part of a world tour. From November 14-19, a stage play version of the Oscar-nominated film, The Shawshank Redemption will also feature at the Opera House.

LYTHAM FESTIVAL Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds are the latest group to be lined up for this summer’s Lytham Festival.

The concert, which will take place on Lytham Green on Thursday 4 August, will mark the first time that the singer-songwriter has played live on the Fylde Coast since October 1995 when his former band Oasis played at Blackpool’s Empress Ballroom.

Other festival performances already announced include a Remix night on Friday 5 August starring Village People, Earth Wind & Fire and Bay City Rollers; Rock star Bryan Adams on Saturday 6 and a West End Proms night on August 7.

DESTINATION MANAGEMENT PLAN YEAR 1 Twelve months after the launch of Blackpool’s Destination Marketing Plan, a number of key milestones have been reached:

Attraction of new early evening economy venues in the town including: Las Iguanas, Ed’s Easy Diner, Mr Basrai and Prezzo

Completion of the Blackpool Tower steelwork replacement programme

Achievement of new European bathing water standards on all of Blackpool’s beaches

Transformation of the traditional Illuminations offer through the launch of the LightPool programme

The three-year place-making plan sets out an aspirational vision of a high-quality, year-round family destination capable of supporting a wider economic regeneration of the town.

COACH FRIENDLY STATUS Blackpool has been awarded “Coach Friendly” status by the Confederation of Passenger Transport. The award acknowledges the commitment that Blackpool has made to understanding the requirements of coaches and their passengers, as well as providing first-class facilities and sources of information for drivers. The bid to secure the accreditation was submitted by the VisitBlackpool team.

The UK Coach Rally will be staged in Blackpool this April. It will be held on the promenade in front of The Blackpool Tower on April 23 and 24, with a formal dinner to be held in the Tower Ballroom. The event, which already has 50 coaches signed up for the rally, is hosted by VisitBlackpool and Merlin Entertainments.

MADAME TUSSAUDS Visitors to Blackpool’s Madame Tussauds will be able to experience the magic of a great British music festival – without the muddy fields or the queues for drinks!

This Easter sees the arrival of Festival Fields, an immersive showcase featuring waxwork figures of some of the music industry’s best-loved stars, as well as the introduction of hologram technology.

Madame Tussauds will also welcome some more new faces this summer including goalkeeper Joe Hart (to coincide with the Euro 2016 soccer championships), fashion icon Anna Wintour and the return of supergroup, One Direction.

GRAND THEATRE MUSIC FEST Blackpool Grand Theatre has announced a six-week music festival during the summer season.

Music Fest 16 will feature nine different music shows over a six week period between Sunday 24 July and Monday 5 September.

The various shows will feature the music of Abba, Blues Brothers, T-Rex, The Drifters, Motown, Take That, Pink Floyd and Karen Carpenter.

SEASON LAUNCH Blackpool Pleasure Beach and VisitBlackpool co-hosted the 2016 Season Launch event with more than 250 visitor economy businesses in attendance.

The audience was told that although there was no major infrastructure projects lined up for the 2016 season, there was heavy investment in events and shows at key venues such as the Winter Gardens, Grand Theatre, Sands Venue, Viva and Pleasure Beach itself.

A copy of the Season Launch presentation can be found on the www.bblg.co.uk website under Reports/Presentations.

DELEGATION TO CHINA A delegation of Blackpool Council officials and members of the Chinese community has travelled to the Far East to promote the resort.

The delegation participated in the formal launch of the Blackpool Dance Festival (China) in Shanghai, a licensed event that has been developed in association with the Winter Gardens and which will be staged in China this summer.

The dance festival deal is worth £100k per annum over five years with the potential for profit sharing, depending on its success. For the Chinese version of the festival, the Empress Ballroom stage and dance floor will be replicated. The original Blackpool festival will continue as usual, with the next event planned for this May.

The trip also saw a visit to the resort of Sanya in southern China, following an earlier visit to Blackpool by a Chinese delegation. Government agency UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) will be holding a reception giving the Blackpool delegation an opportunity to meet with and present to a number of major leisure-oriented investors and companies from Hong Kong and mainland China.

ZOO PLANS APPROVED Plans to create a new elephant enclosure at Blackpool Zoo have been approved by planners. The £2.5m project, the biggest single investment in the zoo’s 44-year history, will provide a larger home for the zoo’s resident Asian elephant, Kate.

The zoo’s March Madness campaign for local residents continues until the end of March. The offer gives a 50% discount until March 24 and then a 20% discount from March 25-31.

RED ARROWS RETURN The Red Arrows will grace the skies again at this year’s Blackpool Air Show, it has been announced.

The first planes announced to fly at this year’s Blackpool Air Show include the Typhoon, Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster Bomber, as well as the world famous Red Arrows display team.

The free seafront show, which features a whole host of incredible flying machines and attracts tens of thousands of people to the Promenade each year, will take place on Sunday 7 and Monday 8 August.

The Red Arrows, known for their daring displays and breathtaking mid-air stunts, will perform on the Sunday, while a special Battle of Britain routine involving the Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster Bomber will take to the skies on both days.

 The Red Arrows will also perform above Blackpool Pleasure Beach early evening on Friday 21 May. Last year, the Pleasure Beach formed a partnership with the Red Arrows when it opened its new Skyforce ride.

PRIDE FESTIVAL The initial line-up has been announced for the Blackpool Pride Festival which returns to the Winter Gardens on Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 June. The festival will commence with a parade along the Promenade from the Sandcastle to St John’s Square.

Entertainment will then take place on five stages. The main stage in the Empress Ballroom will be hosted by Hollyoaks actor Kieron Richardson and will feature acts including S Club 7, Reggie ‘n’ Bollie, Myth Of Unity and District 12.

The Blackpool Pride Ball will be staged on Sunday 5 June at the Tower Ballroom to raise funds for the festival. For more information, go to www.blackpoolpridefest.com

SCOUTS JAMBOREE Cub scouts and volunteers from across the region joined together to mark the beginning of the movement’s 100th birthday. It began at the start of the February half-term with the “Wildest Beach Party Ever” at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, attended by almost 8,000 cub scouts from across the UK. The day saw the cubs given exclusive use of the Pleasure Beach.

BRING ME SUNSHINE Comedy legends Morecambe and Wise will be “reunited” in Blackpool this summer as part of the celebrations to mark the 75th anniversary of their theatrical debut in 1941.

The duo will be reunited in the form of an 8ft-high statue which is being created by renowned sculptor Graham Ibbeson.

A Blackpool-based fundraising committee has been formed to help raise the £75,000 required to create the larger-than-life bronze infused resin statue.

Once completed, the statue be will be gifted to the Winter Gardens by fundraisers.

DESTINATION GUIDE AWARD Blackpool’s Destination Guide for 2015 was named as runner-up in the Best Brochure category of the national Travel Marketing Awards in London. The guide was designed by VisitBlackpool designer Gemma Alderson.

Section 2: Town Centre Economy

SHOWZAM! February half-term saw the return of the annual festival of circus and performance.

This year’s festival, commissioned by LeftCoast, brought the French circus troupe, Akoreacro, to the Blackpool Tower Circus for their debut performance in the UK.

There was a programme of spectacular street theatre in the Winter Gardens and throughout the town centre, including the staging of Bivouac – a piece of roving outdoor theatre (pictured right).

HOUNDS HILL DEVELOPMENT Council planners have approved plans for a four-storey development alongside the Houndshill Shopping Centre.

The outline application, submitted by Peter Swann, who owns the Sands Venue on Central Promenade, includes proposals for retail and food outlets on the ground floor, with associated leisure usage above.

The development is planned for the land at Tower Street, which is owned by Blackpool Council and currently used as a public car park. The next stage of the planning process will involve the submission of detailed plans.

SYNDICATE DEMOLITION Demolition of the former Syndicate nightclub in Blackpool has been completed. Blackpool Council is now converting the cleared site into a car park, which will serve as an extension to the adjoining East Topping Street car park.

The Syndicate was originally a live entertainment venue under various names including the ABC Theatre and The Hippodrome. In its heyday, it played host to the likes of The Beatles, Cilla Black and Morecambe and Wise.

The Syndicate, once one of Europe’s biggest “super clubs”, closed in 2011 and was bought by the Council two years later.

The site will be used as car park while plans for its long-term future are determined. It will operate as a pay and display facility with the same rates as East Topping Street. Vehicle entry and exit points will be shared, but there will be a new pedestrian access on to Church Street.

TOWN CENTRE VACANCIES The latest town centre vacancy report reveals a slight increase in the number of empty units.

There has been a net increase of six vacant units in the town centre since November 2015, bringing the overall total up to 120 and increasing the vacancy rate to 18.6% - the highest town centre vacancy rate since February 2014.

However, it is important to note that the units at the refurbished Talbot Road multi-storey car park have now been added to this latest survey and contributed towards the increased vacancy rate.

The Principal Retail Core area has a vacancy rate of 14.1%, which has increased since the November 2015 (12.3%) survey and has returned to the vacancy rate recorded in both February and May 2015. The periphery town centre was the only area to see an improvement and benefited from a net decrease of one vacant unit.

The newly-vacant units include: UIKO Clothing, Pound Bakery (Victoria Street); Old Guys Rule (Houndshill); Burton, The Chardonnay Blackpool, Mobile Doctor (Church Street); Wallis, Blue Inc. (Bank Hey Street); Che Bar/Coco (Market Street); Nail Force (Clifton Street); Sayers (Abingdon Street); International Aid Trust, Movies and More (Deansgate); Gateway Fitness (Number One Bickerstaffe Square) and Pit Bull West Coast (Cookson Street).

Since November a number of businesses have occupied previously vacant units. These include: Prezzo, Phone Hut (Victoria Street); The Vape Store (Houndshill); The Throne London (Adelaide Street West); Jan's (Coronation Street); A Plus, I & C Entertainments (Abingdon Street); Smoke-Ingos (Dickson Road) and Fish Tanks R-Us (King Street).

The February 2016 vacancy rates for the three areas identified are as follows:

February 2016 Total Total Vacancy Area Vacant Units 1 Rate Units Principle Retail Core (Local Plan boundary based around Houndshill, Victoria Street, Bank Hey Street, Church Street, 163 23 14.1% Corporation Street and Adelaide Street West) Core Retail Area (as above but also including Topping Street, Queen Street, Clifton Street, Birley Street, Market 466 80 17.2% Street, Talbot Road, Abingdon Street and Cedar Square) Town Centre Boundary (as above but also including the Promenade, Springfield Road, Dickson Road, King Street, 646 120 18.6% Cookson Street, Caunce Street and the new Talbot Gateway area) Periphery Town Centre Area (the Town Centre Boundary area excluding the units contained within the Core Retail 180 40 22.2% Area) 1 Excluding the properties to the south of the Palatine Buildings; development sites (old Yates’s site, Tower Street site, 35 Cookson Street site); units within Blackpool North Station; community sites (e.g. churches, libraries, schools etc.) and civic sites (e.g. Town Hall). GRUNDY WORK RE-DISCOVERED A First World War drawing, which has gone unseen for the last 40 years, is the centrepiece of a new exhibition at the Grundy Art Gallery.

The chalk drawing, made by modern war artist Paul Nash, is part of a series of artworks created while he was recovering from injuries sustained in the war, with other works displayed at the Tate Gallery and Imperial War Museum.

The drawing was donated to the gallery back in 1924 by the Contemporary Art Society, but hasn’t been shown in the gallery since the 1970s. Its re-appearance has led to the drawing being properly framed for the first time and is now thought to be on display for the first time in 40 years.

The drawing was rediscovered during the gallery staff’s work to catalogue its current collection, and is being shown as part of an exhibition titled ‘Beyond the Frame’ which runs until Saturday 22 April.

TALBOT GATEWAY COFFEE SHOP A new coffee shop is to open in one of the vacant units in the Talbot Gateway scheme. The Blackpool Entertainment Company Limited, operator of the Winter Gardens, has taken a 1,500 sq ft unit on the ground floor of Number One Bickerstaffe Square to open the Tower Coffee Company.

JENNY HEADS HOME Comedienne and actress Jenny Eclair will make a guest appearance at Blackpool’s Central Library for World Book Night on 23 April when she will discuss her latest novel ‘Moving’.

Perhaps best known recently for her appearances in TV’s Loose Women and Grumpy Old Women, Jenny, who grew up in Lytham St Annes, has also enjoyed a successful career as a novelist with ‘Moving’ appearing as her fourth novel.

WINTER GARDENS WORKS Part of the Winter Gardens has been demolished in order to improve access.

A former multi-storey car park and shops on the Leopold Grove side of the Grade II-listed complex have been removed, making it easier for large vehicles to bring in stage scenery and equipment.

A surface-level car park, providing 64 spaces for exclusive use by Winter Gardens staff, will also be provided. The long-term future of the cleared site is being considered by owners Blackpool Council.

TWO-WAY TRAFFIC Two town centre roads are to be made two-way in an attempt to speed up journey times for drivers. The work will take place on Hornby Road and Coronation Street between April and June, meaning some short-term disruption.

Once the work is completed, drivers on Park Road will be able to use Hornby Road and Coronation Street to get in to the town centre instead of going via Reads Avenue and Central Drive.

Drivers going to the Houndshill Shopping Centre will also be able to use the new two-way Coronation Street, rather than having to go around the one way system up Albert Road and Adelaide Street.

The plans have already been consulted on with the public and with the Highways Consultative Forum, which is made up of representatives from the council, community, local businesses, bus, tram and taxi services, emergency services and hoteliers.

Section 3: Enterprise & Economic Development

ENERGY COLLEGE

Plans to build a £10m energy college in Blackpool have been given the go ahead.

Blackpool and the Fylde College has secured planning permission to build the Lancashire Energy HQ, which is set to become the flagship of the new Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone.

The Lancashire Enterprise Partnership is providing £6.2m in Growth Deal funding towards the £9.8m cost of the overall project.

It is envisaged that the college will become a national centre of excellence for providing the higher technical skills, knowledge and training required by the energy sector.

Construction is expected to start in the summer with completion by the autumn of 2017.

FRACKING INQUIRY A public inquiry into Cuadrilla’s plans to drill for shale gas at two sites on the outskirts of Blackpool has come to an end after five weeks.

The inquiry, held at Blackpool Football Club, has been hearing the energy company’s appeal against Lancashire County Council’s refusals to grant planning permission for the sites at Preston New Road and Roseacre Wood.

More than 20 experts have given evidence for and against the development. The planning inspector will now prepare her report.

The Secretary of State for the Department of Communities and Local Government has already indicated that he will determine the appeals once he receives the report and recommendations.

BLACKPOOL ENTERPRISE WEEK Google has chosen Blackpool as its destination to showcase the latest trends for growing your business.

The company is one of the headline acts at Blackpool’s first ever Enterprise Week which takes place from April 18-22. This is the first time Google has taken its Digital Garage workshop outside a major UK city.

Blackpool Council will host the week of free and professional events at venues across the resort, to enthuse and inspire business start-ups and established companies.

There will be presentations and practical workshops from banking giant Santander, Crowd Funding specialists Seedrs, and a number of established local businesses which have been helped by Blackpool Council’s business support schemes such as Get Started, Business Growth and Blackpool Unlimited.

Viva Blackpool will be the venue for the launch of Blackpool Enterprise Week with the Enterprise Centre on Lytham Road, being used for workshops, networking events and masterclasses.

Themes for BEW include Financing Your Business, Business Growth, Digital Marketing, Taking Care of Business, Marketing and Selling and Inspiring Business Success.

For full details of events visit www.blackpoolunlimited.com email [email protected] or call 01253 477147

BIG HOSPITALITY CONVERSATION Private sector support is still required for the Blackpool version of the Big Hospitality Conversation – a national initiative aimed at showcasing hospitality as a great career choice for young people.

The initiative is intended to deliver 60,000 pledges from the hospitality sector by the end of 2016 comprising 20,000 new jobs for young people aged 16-24, 20,000 new apprenticeship places and 20,000 quality work placements.

To date, 46,000 pledges of action have been made at various events around the UK. The British Hospitality Association, which is leading the initiative, is hoping to grow that figure at an event that is now planned in Blackpool later this year.

The Big Hospitality Conversation Blackpool will be held at the Winter Gardens between 9am and 4pm on Wednesday 8 June. It will seek to showcase Blackpool’s vibrant hospitality industry and bring together business leaders and young jobseekers to create new opportunities. Support is now being sought from local employers. To register for the free event, please click on the link below:

Section 4: General News

SEASIDERS WAY REOPENS A key route into Blackpool has reopened after repairs were completed ahead of schedule.

The reopening follows extensive repairs to the bridge which carries Seasiders Way over Princess Street. Both roads have been opened to traffic ahead of the start of the Easter holidays.

The work saw the old bridge deck completely demolished and replaced with a stronger structure, while landscaping to the nearby area has made it safer for local residents.

The old bridge was in a decrepit state and would likely have had to close to all traffic in the next two years if the work had not been carried out.

The maintenance work is part of a programme to repair 10 Blackpool bridges over the next four years at a total cost of £11.365m. The money is made up by contributions from Blackpool Council, the Department for Transport’s Challenge Fund and the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership’s Growth Fund.

The majority of these bridges are in desperate need of repair due mainly to the corrosive action of air-borne salts and chlorides that come with being near the seaside.

For more information on the project, visit www.blackpool.gov.uk/bridges

£1M McDONALD’S INVESTMENT More than £1m has been spent on refurbishing three McDonald’s restaurants in Blackpool.

The Bank Hey Street restaurant in the town centre (pictured right) re-opened in February after a conversion to a new “digital” format with more than 100 extra seats.

Self-service kiosks have been installed in the building to allow customers the ability to personalise their order and then pay by contactless payment before collecting orders at the counter. Free-to-use tablets have also been installed for customers to check emails or play games.

The refurbishment follows similar improvements at the Rigby Road and South Promenade outlets. The Blackpool investment has already created 20 new jobs.

QUEENS PARK TOWER BLOCKS Blackpool’s skyline will be dramatically changed in May when three remaining tower blocks are demolished by controlled explosions.

The demolition of the Queens Park buildings will take place on the morning of Sunday 15 May, marking the start of the second phase of the housing redevelopment project there.

The first phase of the scheme involved the dismantling of Ashworth Court and Charles Court and the construction of 92 new homes by a housing regeneration specialist.

Following the demolition of the Elizabeth Court, Churchill Court and Walter Robinson Court buildings, and the dismantling of nearby maisonettes, a further 99 new homes will be constructed to complete the transformation of the Queens Park neighbourhood by Spring 2018.

Lovell has appointed specialist contractor Forshaw Demolition, one of the North West’s leading demolition experts, to carry out the demolition programme.

The demolition is taking place on a Sunday to minimise disruption and some residents will need to leave their properties while this happens.

Further information will be available in the coming weeks and all affected businesses and residents will receive a visit from the demolition team.

Updates can be found at www.queensparkredevelopment.co.uk

RED ROSE BUSINESS AWARDS Four Blackpool-based businesses triumphed at the annual Red Rose business awards staged at the Winter Gardens. The event was attended by more than 1,100 people from the business community.

Local winners included:

Health & Care Business Award I Care Group, Blackpool

Tourism & Leisure Business Award Winter Gardens

Innovation Award Jobs, Friends and Houses

Not-For-Profit Business Award Trinity Hospice

HEALTHY NEW TOWN

A large-scale residential development on the outskirts of Blackpool is one of 10 developments selected to be part of a pioneering ‘Healthy New Towns’ initiative with NHS England.

The 1,400-home scheme, which straddles 225 acres at Whyndyke Farm on the boundaries of Fylde and Blackpool, includes a primary school, two shopping areas, a health centre and a community centre. It will be developed over a 15-year period.

The Healthy New Towns initiative seeks to address major healthcare problems including obesity and dementia by encouraging people to exercise more, eat better and live more independently into old age.

One of the proposals being considered is to use technology to keep residents mindful of activity levels, with electronic way-markers in lamp-posts calculating how many calories are burned while walking.

Other elements of Whyndyke Farm include sports pitches, allotments, cycle paths and walkways, as well as natural habitats such as ponds and watercourses.

The Healthy New Towns programme attracted 114 applications from local authorities, housing associations, NHS organisations and housing developers, with 10 sites initially chosen following a rigorous selection process.

Architects firm Cassidy + Ashton, which put together the Whyndyke scheme, was the only private sector organisation to be involved in the bid.

AXA RELOCATION TALKS Insurance giant AXA has outlined plans to start a full employee consultation about transferring the majority of the 355 roles at its Lytham site to its offices in Bolton. The Lytham operation, based on Ballam Road, services several elements of the wider AXA Group including HR, IT and finance support roles.

WORDPOOL AWARD Blackpool’s popular arts festival Wordpool has been awarded a £70,000 grant from Arts Council England as it prepares to celebrate its 10th anniversary.

The festival of literature and arts, which is managed by Blackpool Council’s Arts and Library Services and traditionally runs in July, has been awarded the funds to help develop the programme further during the next two years.

Organisers now plan to expand the festival with the new funding to create three new themed mini-festivals during the year in addition to the existing July festival.

This will include the launch of a Festival of Poetry and Performance, which will coincide with National Poetry Day on Thursday 6th October.

February 2017 will also see the launch of a new Festival of Written Words into the Wordpool programme, focusing on ways to introduce new writing. The event will see a range of well- known and emerging authors visiting Blackpool.

In addition, a brand new Young Adult Fiction Festival will be launched later this year.

During this year’s main July Festival, a specially themed Family Day will run on Saturday 2nd July and will feature up to 20 different events, activities and attractions.

Wordpool works with a wide range of partners to make the Festival a success including The Grand Theatre, Grundy Art Gallery, Family Learning, LeftCoast, Friends of Stanley Park, local schools and colleges and the Blackpool Museum Project.

BLACKPOOL FC TRAINING GROUND Blackpool Football Club has secured planning permission to build a new training facility. The club has been given the go-ahead for the scheme on the site of its existing facilities at Squires Gate by Fylde Council.

The proposed development would include changing rooms, a classroom, offices, a hospitality area/players' canteen, a rehabilitation gym, physiotherapists' rooms and associated facilities. Building work is expected to start following the demolition of the existing facilities.

NEW TOY STORE National toy retailer, Smyths, is to open a new store at the former DW Soccer Centre on Vicarage Lane, Blackpool. The Toy Superstore is expected to open in April, creating 35 jobs.

Section 5: Requests for private sector support

KEEP BRITAIN TIDY SURVEY Following the presentation at the January meeting of the Blackpool Business Leadership Group on the plans to make Blackpool the cleanest resort in the UK, the Keep Britain Tidy Group have asked for local businesses to take part in a short online survey.

The survey can be accessed here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/XFRSLGQ

It closes on Friday 25 March.

ILLUMINATIONS BALL The annual Illuminations Ball will be staged by the Friends Of The Illuminations on April 15 at Viva Showbar. Tickets for the black tie event are priced at £30 and include entertainment, four course meal and table wine. Any business wishing to buy tickets for the event or donate prizes to the grand raffle, please contact: [email protected]

All proceeds go to the Illuminations.

PROPERTY SCENE CHARITY BALL The 4th annual Property Scene Charity Ball will be held at The Hilton Hotel, Blackpool, on Friday 1 July, in memory of local businessman, Jim Broomhead. Tickets are priced at £45 per person or £400 for a table of 10, to include drinks reception, three course meal, live music and auction/raffle. Proceeds will go to Trinity Hospice and Brian House. Any businesses wishing to support the event can do so by buying tickets or by donating a gift for the raffle and auction on the night. Further details from: [email protected]

Philip Welsh, Head of Visitor Economy