Battle to have Lancashire's arena as politicians jostle to leave mark on areas

Who will leave a political legacy that people can enjoy for years to come?

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For Chris Webb, MP for Blackpool South, and for Preston City Council, an arena would leave a permanent legacy behind on their areas.

That point is particularly important when you consider the wider context.

Preston City Council will, under current plans, be abolished by the end of the decade and merged into a new, larger unitary authority. The exact shape of that is unclear, and we’ve covered the options extensively in this newsletter.

For Chris Webb, the future is less clear. But if Reform UK performs well in the next general election, Blackpool South will be high on the list of seats they would expect to take.

For both, delivering an arena would mean a permanent and tangible step forward for either Blackpool or Preston. And it is ‘or’ - because both is surely too much to ask for.

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Lancashire briefing

🏠 Government-appointed inspectors have begun a public examination of the blueprint that will dictate where new housing is built across Preston, South Ribble and Chorley for the next 15 years. More than three weeks’ worth of hearings are taking place between now and mid-January assessing the first ever Central Lancashire Local Plan. The 277-page document identifies locations that should be earmarked for housebuilding and employment use, in order to fulfil the sub-region’s needs and meet government housing targets.

🚛 United Utilities’ plan for an HGV marshalling yard near Clitheroe has finally been approved, despite some Ribble Valley councillors still fearing traffic chaos and accidents. A majority of councillors on Ribble Valley Council’s planning committee approved it after officers, independent traffic surveyors and others said there was no evidence to refuse it for road safety reasons. United Utilties’ proposals were acceptable, they said. But some councillors remain unhappy that their call for a new A59 roundabout or traffic lights to be built at the Pimlico Link Road junction was not supported by Lancashire County Council.

🗞️ A Reform UK county councillor has been replaced as the Champion for Combatting Sexual Exploitation and Violence Against Women and Girls. The role was established this year after County Cllr Maria Jones spoke passionately about her own experiences of domestic abuse. County Cllr Ellie Close will take the role with immediate effect. A spokesperson for the council told me: “Due to personal and work commitments, Councillor Maria Jones has resigned from her role as Champion for Violence Against Women and Girls.”

Battle to have Lancashire’s arena as politicians jostle to leave mark on areas

How an arena in Blackpool could look

By Ed Walker

Jostling for position to be home to a large-scale venue in Lancashire is well and truly underway.

From Chris Webb sabre-rattling for an arena venue in Blackpool to big-hitting consultants scoping out whether Preston should be the centre of entertainment in the county there’s no shortage of claims to wanting to be the place for events to happen.

As The Lancashire Lead revealed last year, part of the ambition for the Red Rose county, whichever part of it you speak to, is for it to have a major events venue to be able to stand on its own two feet with regularity against the bright lights of Liverpool and Manchester.

This will be no simple project and involve a huge investment of public and private money to make it work - or be part of a broader redevelopment scheme as is proposed with the Blackpool Central plans.

Starting in the middle and just this week it was revealed consultants IPW are in and looking at the future of Preston Guild Hall.

Classed very much as a legacy venue it has been wrapped up in a bitter legal dispute with its former private family owners after Preston City Council seized back control and on the cusp of reopening it was confirmed the venue’s roof in both the Grand Hall and Charter Theatre had reinforced aerated concrete (RAAC). This problem is still very much there and blocking any reopening of a venue that has musical pedigree including Led Zeppelin, David Bowie and many more over the years.

But, it is a small-scale indoor venue compared to the mega venues and arenas which now stalk the UK’s live music scene. IPW’s track-record is impressive and perhaps most crucial is the work they’ve done in the likes of Hull, Derby and Somerset rather than having worked on Everton’s new stadium.

Could Preston, with its central location and transport links, be rejuvenated with a major event space?

As chair of the Preston Partnership business group, John Chesworth, told me this week: “This conversation should move forward whatever happens to the Guild Hall. We need to think wider than a legacy events space.”

And not just for live music, be it awards ceremonies, conferences like the Convention of the North earlier this year cobbled together across a variety of university venues, a smaller event space within a larger one for emerging acts, the nature of events is changing rapidly. More people might go and watch a live podcast recording than an up and coming band.

Heading down the M55 and there’s been vocal calls for Blackpool to be home to an arena, as reported in our sister title The Blackpool Lead.

While the future of the Blackpool Central leisure scheme is anything but certain, the call for it to have a 20,000-capacity arena within it is something one of the town’s two MPs has put himself firmly behind (along with his desire to see the Labour Party conference return to the seaside too).