The Blackpool Lead

15/01/2025

Linda Nolan, a member of pop group the Nolans, has died at the age of 65.

She passed peacefully at Blackpool Victoria Hospital on Wednesday morning, her agent said.

Described as a 'true Blackpool icon', Nolan was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 and given the all clear in 2011, but in 2017 was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer. It spread and by 2023 was in her brain.

Blackpool Grand Theatre said in a statement: "An incredibly sad day, our hearts go out to the Nolan family (Anne, Denise, Maureen and Coleen.) from us all at the Blackpool Grand Theatre. Linda Nolan was a true Blackpool icon. RIP Linda, you will always be a shining star!"

Dermot McNamara, her agent, said: "Linda's legacy extends beyond her incredible achievements in music and entertainment. She was a beacon of hope and resilience, sharing her journey to raise awareness and inspire others. Rest in peace, Linda. You will be deeply missed, but never forgotten."

Linda raised over £20m for charities including Breast Cancer Now, Irish Cancer Society and Samaritans.

📷 Image by Dave Nelson, shared by Blackpool Grand Theatre

14/01/2025

Tomorrow morning - we report on redundancy plans at Blackpool Transport, where bosses continue to insist heritage trams will return to the town despite the organisational changes on the horizon.

Get the details first by subscribing to The Blackpool Lead for free. 👇

14/01/2025

Volunteers who are battling to restore a famous Blackpool landmark are appealing for more people to join their ranks.

It is also hoped work will begin soon on repairs to the Little Marton Windmill, which is owned by Blackpool Council, and is one of the first sights to greet visitors travelling into the town along Preston New Road.

Shirley Matthews, of the Friends of Little Marton Windmill, said the council was expected to start repairs to the cap of the Grade II listed structure but in the meantime volunteers had been working on the interior exhibition space.

The council has said the cap needs to be repaired before any possible restoration of the sails can take place. The sails were removed in May 2023 after one was damaged during high winds.

Shirley said: “We are hoping that scaffolding will be erected outside the mill as soon as possible in order to mend the cap. Her sails are still a high priority and the money already donated on the Go Fund Me is in the Friends of Little Marton Windmill’s account.

“Like so many of those who come and visit and bring their families in, you are all helping to keep our future generations interested in Blackpool’s industrial heritage, as there were over 40 windmills in the North West.

“We hope to work with Mereside Library who are passionate about their mill and we love to have events that work with schools. Sprucing up the inside is taking shape (thanks to our windmillian volunteers) and is a joy to see now, especially when we get to put our exhibition material back in place.

“We have our tour guides who love to tell people all about the history of the mill and its importance as a heritage building.”

13/01/2025

Proposals to build an extension to a Blackpool primary school have got the go ahead from council planners.

The scheme will see a new reading room and storage area provided at St John’s School on Church Street in the town centre.

It will replace existing concrete theatre steps which are currently not being used due to health and safety issues. The plans were approved under delegated powers.

The brickwork will match the existing building, while the doors and windows will also match the existing grey aluminium at the school which was demolished and rebuilt in 2009 in a modern style.

Access to the reading room will be via the first floor play deck area either by the existing adjacent concrete steps or directly from the first floor of the school fire exit.

A report setting out the decision says: “Socially, the proposals would have no unacceptable impacts on residential amenity and would improve the functionality of the school for the students and staff.

“The proposals would be considered to align with the council’s regeneration aims for health and education sites.”

11/01/2025

Hundreds of people have formally voiced their objection to a new sea-defence compound that will see pensioners have their sea view replaced by heavy machinery, boulders and new hoardings.

Residents at Anchorsholme relocated to retire with the sea view - and now that might be taken away.

Read about it first and exclusively by subscribing to The Blackpool Lead for free.

10/01/2025

Blackpool’s Winter Gardens has received a new year boost after thousands of young dancers stepped out on its famous ballroom for the first big dance event of 2025.

Champions of Tomorrow attracted more than 6,700 entries from 18 different countries including Mongolia for the first time.

The three day competition was held between January 3 and 5 and attracted so many competitors it was expanded to use space in the conference and exhibition centre as well as the Empress Ballroom at the council owned complex.

Michael Williams, managing director of the Winter Gardens, said the event showcased the aspiring stars of tomorrow and underlined the town’s reputation as the home of dance, with the venue having hosted competitions for almost 100 years.

He said: “It is a delight to welcome dancers back to Blackpool for Champions of Tomorrow. It is the first of many dance events that we host annually here at the Winter Gardens Blackpool which sees dancers from across the globe travel to Blackpool to compete in the magnificent Empress Ballroom.

“To our delight the numbers attending our first festival of 2025, meant an expansion across the venue, utilising the Empress Ballroom and the new Conference and Exhibition Centre which received wide praise from competitors and spectators.

“This year, for the first time, we had a dance school who travelled from Mongolia to compete at the Festival in addition to competitors from 18 other countries.”

10/01/2025

Calls have been made for a zero tolerance approach to aggression against NHS workers in Blackpool after new figures showed 456 incidents of violence against staff were reported during 2023/24.

The figures, which were part of a report to a meeting of the Blackpool Teaching Hospitals board of directors, showed incidents included both verbal and physical assaults.

Out of the total – physical assaults accounted for 279 attacks on staff, with 177 incidents being verbal assaults.

Board chairman James Wilkie said the number of incidents was ‘a lot’ and questioned whether other hospital trusts had the same number of incidents happening to their staff.

He said: “Are the approaches we have got in place satisfactory because this is something we really need to have zero tolerance on in terms of our commitment to the staff who work for us in very difficult circumstances on occasion.”

He asked for further reports on the issue so the board could help the Trust deal with the problem.

Angela Parfitt, deputy director of quality governance at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals, said it had been nationally recognised that there had been an increase “in terms of violence and aggression within the NHS.”

She added: “For us we have a more challenging demographic so we are higher but that is reflective of that, so we have to keep that balance in context.”

08/01/2025

Proposals which will enable the expansion of an existing timber merchants in Blackpool have got the go ahead from town hall planners.

Savoy Timber, which already has a superstore on Talbot Road in the town, has been granted planning permission to use a site on Chorley Road, off Mowbray Drive in Layton.

The scheme was approved by planners using their delegated powers and will see the yard take over land which had previously been used as a waste metals processing centre.

Fencing and some of the existing buildings on the site will be retained as part of the new use.

A report setting out the decision says: “The scheme is for the use of the yard for the storage and sale of timber supplies. The existing hardstanding, portacabins, shipping containers and brick-built building would remain. Access would not be affected.”

It adds: “The site is nestled within the employment designation and bounded to the north by the raised railway. When visited, the site is not overtly noticeable in the streetscene, screened from views from the north and it is not considered the retention of the structures on site would either result in any unacceptable visual impacts, or appear out of context with the area.”

It concludes: “Economically the scheme would support expansion of a local business and occupation of designated employment land.”

08/01/2025

Blackpool South MP Chris Webb has set his own party a challenge – declaring “It’s about time UK Labour came back to Blackpool’.

Mr Webb used social media channel X to put out the clarion call for Labour to bring its annual conference back to the resort in a move which would bring a £30m economic boost to the town.

While Labour has been bringing its North West regional conference to Blackpool in recent years, it has not held its main autumn conference in the town since 2002.

Prior to that, Blackpool’s Winter Gardens was one of the most favoured venues for the party and in the last 50 years has hosted the conference 14 times.

However it now loses out to Liverpool which will welcome the Labour conference for the fourth year in a row in autumn 2025.

Mr Webb says investment in new conference facilities at the Winter Gardens, new hotels including the Holiday Inn, Hampton by Hilton and The Boulevard, plus plans for a further hotel next door to the Winter Gardens, mean Labour should consider a return.

He said: “I am actively lobbying the Labour Party and NEC members to bring the annual conference back to Blackpool and recently spoke to the deputy prime minister about it.

“The restoration of the Winter Gardens, with the addition of the conference centre, has given us a world-leading centre that will meet the needs of any political party who want to come to our town.

“The addition of a hotel to the conference centre will add to the venue’s suitability. This, along with the addition of the Holiday Inn – now best in UK and Ireland – the award-winning Boulevard Hotel, the extension of Hampton by Hilton, and others, means Blackpool now has the high-standard accommodation conferences require.

“A five day Labour conference has a £30m economic impact on its host town and would be game changing for Blackpool, which already has a long and proud history of hosting party conferences.”

08/01/2025

- The council will be investigating the incident
- CCTV shows Sabrina entering the premises two days before her body was found
- The restaurant has given their response

Sabrina Lyttle was inside the restaurant for two days before her body was discovered

07/01/2025

In tomorrow's edition of The Blackpool Lead we report on the tragic death of Sabrina Lyttle.

Through conversations with the restaurant, Blackpool Council and numerous other officials, we have been able to pull together a more comprehensive report on what happened than you might have read elsewhere.

Full story sent to subscribers (it's free) first. 👇

07/01/2025

A bridal lounge in Blackpool looks set to expand after plans to use the upper floor of the building were approved.

The Ivory Dressing Room Ltd on Lytham Road in South Shore has been granted planning permission to convert an empty two-bedroom flat above its existing shop into an area to hang dresses and add an upstairs dressing room.

Council planners approved the application using their delegated powers, saying the proposal represented an extension to the existing business.

A decision notice adds: “The business currently occupies the ground
floor of the building and a two storey building in the rear yard which is linked at ground floor.

“The proposal would merge the two units so the first floor would be used as an extension of the existing business.”

06/01/2025

A fresh appeal has gone out for more people to come forward to act as foster carers in Blackpool with the resort still having more than 500 children living in council care.

There is a particular focus this year on finding foster carers to look after older children, or for people who are able to offer short term care if they cannot make a long-term commitment.

A new support service called Mockingbird has also been launched which aims to recreate the environment of an extended family for children and their foster carers, by putting different families in touch with each other.

David Johnson, one of Blackpool Council’s newest foster carers, says he is already benefiting from being part of the first Mockingbird group in the town.

He said: “Mockingbird is great. It’s all different ages and we all get together.

“I told my foster child that this could help him take someone under his wing and share his experience to help another foster child, which might not happen without Mockingbird.”

The programme provides children and their carers with support, including sleepovers and fun social activities with other foster families all sharing and supporting each other.

06/01/2025

Our look ahead at 2025 for Blackpool. Thanks for reading through 2024!

Hundreds of millions of pounds of investment coming to Blackpool in 2025 but making it a better place to live - not just visit - must be central to plans

05/01/2025

Blackpool from the air today - captured by Tony Slavin 📷❄️

05/01/2025

A distant tower and a near one on a very snowy Fylde Coast this morning.

Credit: The Blackpool Lead 📷❄️

05/01/2025

"It never snows in Blackp..."

Captured this morning by Steve Eaves 📷❄️

A number of bus and tram services are this morning operating on limited routes due to the weather. Please check before travelling.

At 8.30am, the following services are affected:

Service 3 will not be serving Eastpines Drive, Seabrook Drive
Service 7 will not be serving Devonshire Road between Bispham Village and Talbot Road
Service 5B will not be serving Blackpool Zoo, buses will be terminating at Victoria Hospital outpatients unit
Service 5C until further notice will not be serving Knott End
Service 6 will not be serving Tesco's car park at Mereside, buses will be terminating on Clifton Road
Service 7A will not be serving Benson Road in both directions due to the weather
Services 11 and 11B will not be serving St Partricks Road South and St Albans Road
Service 11B will not be serving Spring Gardens in St Annes
Service 18 will not be serving the following areas due to the weather conditions. Stanley Park, Bond Street, Clifton Drive, Amy Johnston Way or Tesco's car par

And due to the current snowfall and the safety issues it is causing the T1 tram service is suspended until further notice

04/01/2025

This week's edition of The Blackpool Lead sees us preview the year ahead.

We look at Blackpool through the lens of housing, sea defences, hospitality, sewage, the Multiversity inquiry and the need to balance making the town a good place to visit with making it a good place to live.

We reported extensively and exclusively on these topics, and more, in 2024 and will be doing even more in 2025.

A good time to sign up (for free) 👇