Green light for Blackpool educational campus

Blackpool Council has received planning approval for a Multiversity campus for Blackpool and the Fylde College.

The five-storey, £65M development would allow the college to relocate from out of town facilities into a world-class state-of-the-art campus as part of the £350M Talbot Gateway regeneration (see NSC March 2023) of the area around Blackpool North train station.

The Multiversity would be built by Blackpool Council, then leased to the College, offering more than 70 individual courses and enhancing its existing higher education provision which is directly linked to local employment needs.

The proposed development would include two phases, starting with an education campus on the corner of Cookson Street and George Street, followed by future development across the southern end of the site by Milbourne Street and Grosvenor Street.

The plans would deliver up to 32,600m² of education and commercial space across several phases, starting with the new Multiversity building.

Blackpool Council Leader, Councillor Lynn Williams, said: “The Multiversity will be a game changing addition to the town centre, bringing thousands of workers and students into the area.

“It will also help improve the town’s skills base so that local people can learn work-ready skills and gain university level qualifications without leaving Blackpool.”