Exclusive: Preston's arena ambitions
Plus: Pothole repairs and renewed plans for controversial M&S store
Hello and welcome to the 81st edition of The Lancashire Lead. The main story in today’s newsletter is an exclusive report on ambitious plans to build an arena in Preston.
Such a development would is described as “the next piece” in the city’s development and the conversation comes at a time when question marks still linger over the future the city’s flagship venue - the Guild Hall. We’ll be building on the topic in next week’s newsletter with a look at the wider context, including the state of the live music industry and whether anywhere in Lancashire could compete with nearby big cities in this context.
Before that though, some quick admin - with the next two midweek editions due to fall on Christmas Day and New Year’s day, I won’t be sending out newsletters on those days.
A final point before we move to main section is to thank you to everyone who’s picked up a copy of The Lancashire Lead in print over the last week. If you’re reading the newsletter for the first time as a result of seeing the title in print, it’s great to have you on board. I’m always keen to hear feedback so if you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from new or regular readers on jamie@thelead.uk
Thank you for your continued support and I hope you get to enjoy Christmas in whichever way you’d like to. And if this is a hard time of year for you, I hope you manage to have a peaceful one.
Arena plan could be “next big project” in Preston’s redevelopment
By Fergal Kinney
A new arena in Preston is being seriously considered by Preston City Council, The Lancashire Lead can exclusively reveal.
The city has been lacking a medium or large sized venue since Preston Guild Hall closed in 2019, following on from the closure of 53 Degrees in 2014.
The Guild Hall is back in the hands of the council in 2024 but any plans have been scuppered by the presence of RAAC (Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) that has essentially mothballed the Grand Hall and Charter Theatre.
The repair bill is expected to run into seven-figure sums.
Now, The Lancashire Lead can reveal a new-build structure is instead being considered for Preston as the city’s next project following the completion of the Harris Museum renovation and the Animate leisure complex.
Cllr Anna Hindle, cabinet member for culture and arts at Preston City Council, told The Lancashire Lead:
“If you look around Preston you’ll see evidence of a lot of public sector investment we’re doing at the moment, such as the Harris Museum.
“And we’re thinking that an arena could be the next piece in the jigsaw, the next big project.”
Preston celebrates the Guild every twenty years - and has done since 1542 - with processions and major events which draw large crowds. Cllr Hindle added:
“We’re getting to the stage where we’re thinking, ‘what will we be providing’? We’re wondering whether this could be our next big project, having an arena.”
Any plans would not come without challenges. Those working in the industry have long suspected that bigger acts - who already often don’t play both Manchester and Liverpool - are unlikely to be drawn to Preston.
But Preston City Council feels the success - and crowds - from BBC Radio 2 in the Park point towards a city crying out for more.
“We’re super ambitious,” said Cllr Hindle, “but it would have to stack up, be viable, and have serious investment.”
The prospect of an arena in Lancashire was unexpectedly put on the agenda in November when Blackpool South MP Chris Webb called for an arena in Blackpool.
He did so after the collapse of the developer Nikal who had been working on a £300m leisure complex at the Blackpool Central site.
Blackpool Council wants to plough ahead with those plans - which don’t include an arena - but Webb says investors have already been in touch over his idea.
£14m road repaid fund to tackle pothole problems
By Paul Faulkner
Lancashire is to get an extra £14m for road repairs as part of a government drive to tackle potholes.
The additional cash – made up of £12.3m for Lancashire County Council, £994K for Blackburn with Darwen Council and £609K for Blackpool Council – is the county’s share of a £500m injection announced by the Department for Transport (Dft) this week.
Although presented as a plan for potholes, the new funding is being added to local authorities’ highways maintenance budgets, meaning it can be used for a raft of road upgrades, including the replacement of traffic lights and streetlamps.
It will take government funding for the 4,000 miles of road in the county council area to £46.8m in 2025/26 and follows an extra £4.2m poured in by the authority itself last month from an underspend in its capital budget – £2.5m of which will be used for patching up areas where multiple potholes have appeared, with the rest earmarked for drainage works.
The combined increases take County Hall’s highways maintenance budget close to the £51.2m minimum that the authority has previously said it would need in order to manage all of its highways assets to a “sustainable” level. However, as the funding boosts are both one-offs, that goal is likely to be within reach for one year only.
The county council also recently declared that it would need over £160m to bring all of Lancashire’s roads into “good condition” – £110m more than it will have at its disposal next year.
At a meeting earlier this month – before the government funding increase was announced – county councillors clashed over the authority’s pothole-filling performance.
Labour opposition group member John Fillis – who was the cabinet member in charge of the roads during the party’s last period in control at County Hall between 2013 and 2017 – said Lancashire had recently been rated as “one of the worst places in the country for potholes compared to other county councils”. He added:
“When we had a Labour administration, the Conservative government identified Lancashire as being in the top three for fixing potholes – how far we have fallen since then.”
However, Alan Vincent – deputy leader of the Conservative-run authority – rubbished the analysis and claimed the county council had become a victim of its own success after introducing an app via which the public could register road defects.
“We have made it much easier than it is in other areas to actually report faults…which other [places] do not do. So the figures being quoted by John Fillis are…not comparing like for like and that’s why we’re near the top of the table – not because we’re bad at it, [but] because we’re actually very good at it.
“We spend a lot more than other people do, because we don’t waste money.”
Lancashire County Council also consistently received “incentive” highways funding from the government – a cash top-up for those councils deemed to be using their maintenance cash wisely – for the eight years that the scheme was in operation until it ended last year.
A quarter of the additional funding announced this week will be withheld until local authorities can prove that they are meeting various government criteria for how they operate, which will be shared with them in the coming weeks.
Although the county council has recently championed the success of new techniques for pothole-filling – including a method involving the use of recycled tyres – it has also just advertised a £60m, four-year contract for what it describes as “traditional surfacing methods” such as machine and hand patching.
Speaking about the extra government cash coming Lancashire’s way next year, county council cabinet member for highways and transport Rupert Swarbrick said:
“We know that improving our roads is a top priority for Lancashire’s residents and businesses – and this additional funding will help us to continue to keep our roads in the best possible condition.
“We absolutely understand that potholes are a major concern for all road users, which is why we already identify the areas where our teams are often called to fix potholes and why we are also investing more in schemes to address these areas. We also encourage anyone with any highways concerns to report them to us.
“We welcome this additional funding, as it will help us to plan effectively, making our roads and highways network stronger and safer.”
In Blackpool, the cash increase from the government will take Whitehall funding for highways maintenance to almost £2.4m in 2025/26.
Paula Burdess, cabinet member for community safety, street scene and neighbourhoods at Blackpool Council, said she was “delighted” by an increase which she claimed would bring more benefits than just less bumpy journeys.
“This funding, including baseline support and a much welcomed uplift, is vital for maintaining and improving our highways and associated infrastructure.
“For a town like Blackpool, our roads, pavements, and cycleways are lifelines for residents, visitors and businesses. This funding will enable us to enhance our efforts in tackling key issues such as resurfacing roads, repairing potholes, maintaining cycleways and more.
“These improvements will not only enhance road safety, it will play a part in supporting economic growth by ensuring that our infrastructure meets the needs of our growing community.
“I am particularly pleased that part of the funding is contingent on demonstrating best practices in highway maintenance. Blackpool has a strong track record of innovation and efficiency – and this funding will allow us to build on that success while working towards a more sustainable and resilient transport network.”
Blackburn with Daren Council will receive a total of £3.8m net in government cash for highways maintenance next year. The authority was approached for comment.
M&S make new bid for Blackburn store - and vow to close current one
By Bill Jacobs
Proposals for a £10.1million Marks and Spencer food hall at Frontier Park in Blackburn have gone live again after hitting a major High Court hitch in September.
The legal block meant that the planning process for the high-class retailer’s new outlet which will replace their existing store in the town centre had to be rerun from the beginning.
Now Monte Blackburn, the property arm of Mohsin and Zuber Issa’s business empire which owns Frontier Park, has started the new assessment of the scheme.
In April, Hyndburn Council planning committee granted planning permission for the outlet just off the M65’s Junction 6 after overturning an officer’s recommendation to reject it.
The approval was given despite a last-ditch attempt by Blackburn with Darwen Council to offer the location on the cleared Thwaites Brewery site originally earmarked for a new Morrisons supermarket as an alternative.
Following the approval by the committee, Tesco Stores launched a Judicial Review of the decision which Hyndburn Council opted not to contest. This resulted in the planning permission granted by the councillors being quashed by the High Court meaning the committee was required to re-determine the application after a new officer’s report taking into account the technical and procedural grounds for the judgement.
Now Monte and Marks and Spencer, which has made clear it is determined to move to Frontier Park, have submitted new supporting statements to Hyndburn Council addressing the grounds for the High Court decision in September and urging approval for the proposal.
Blackburn with Darwen Council has previously objected to the planned new food hall and offered Marks and Spencer the site long earmarked for the Morrisons store before the supermarket chain pulled out in March.
Marks and Spencer’s statement says it will not renew the lease for its existing 1980s store at King William Street when it expires in September 2027, regardless of what happens with its other plans. The Monte Blackburn statement says:
“While acknowledging previous objections on this basis, it is hoped that the updated information and robust analysis presented will encourage a re-evaluation of those positions.
“Moreover, the strong interest from M&S in occupying the unit as a food hall further exemplifies these advantages.
“M&S’s relocation from their existing Blackburn town centre store will not only retain jobs but also contribute to the vitality of Frontier Park by providing a much-needed service to residents, employees, and visitors.
“This proposal represents a valuable opportunity to regenerate an underutilised site within Frontier Park, delivering a range of economic, social, and environmental benefits that align with planning policy objectives.”
It continues:
“The existing M&S store in King William Street, Blackburn, is from another era opening in 1934 and is no longer representative of how people want to shop today or is in any way representative of the M&S property and trading strategy to renew the M&S in the UK and make it fit for the future.
“Should planning permission not be granted for the relocation food hall at Frontier Park the existing store would close in any event given it no longer performs as required.”
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🚋 Blackpool Council refused to comment on whether senior members of staff have been suspended in relation to the closure of the resort’s heritage trams (Blackpool Lead).
🎓 UCLan’s proposed name change to the University of Lancashire has been approved (Blog Preston).
🚑 A fraudster involved in a multi-million pound scam has died in prison (Lancashire Telegraph).
🚓 Lancashire Police is sending additional resources to Christmas events following a deadly attack at a German Christmas market (LancsLive).
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