£6m boost for key projects from Devolution fund

Monday, 18 November 2024 07:17

By Shelagh Parkinson - LDRS

Blackpool has been handed a £6m boost towards two key regeneration projects in the town.

The cash includes £4m towards the existing £100m cost of the new civil service hub nearing completion on King Street in the town centre, and £2m for the Silicon Sands project at Blackpool Airport.

It has come from an initial release of £20m by the government in preparation for the setting up of Lancashire’s new Combined County Authority (CCA).

Blackpool Council leader Coun Lynn Williams said it was a ‘historic moment’ signalling “the start of this new way of working where we will have more control over local decision and the funding that supports those decisions.”

She added: “The projects being funded in Blackpool are of strategic importance to us. The new town centre offices for the DWP will bring over 3,000 workers into the centre of Blackpool.

“Silicon Sands is a forward looking project that will bring new, high quality tech jobs to Blackpool. Starting with a small data centre at the Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone, it will bring a new industry and investment to Blackpool while also tackling the climate emergency at the same time.”

The civil service hub has been funded through council borrowing, with the £4m set to go towards easing some of the borrowing costs. It is due to open next year with the council recouping its investment through a 25 year lease with the DWP.

The £2m for Silicon Sands will be used to clear the remainder of the site at the airport in readiness for a low carbon data centre earmarked for the land, which will take advantage of connectivity provided by undersea Trans-Atlantic fibre cables which come ashore in the town.

Some of the funding will also be used to build a new handling facility for up to 45 passengers at the airport to replace existing facilities. This work needs to be completed to enable the data centre to proceed.

Other cash from the devolution fund includes £6m for an innovation hub at Samlesbury Enterprise Zone and £6m for the Innovation Quarter in Blackburn.