Two new rides in Blackpool 'could boost tourism'

Blackpool Pier Company wants to build a log flume and a star flyer on the South Pier headland

Fresh proposals for two rides to operate in Blackpool have been submitted to planners months after initially being refused.

The Blackpool Pier Company wants to build a log flume and a star flyer - a 77m (253ft) high ride - on either side of South Pier headland area.

They said the rides would prove a major attraction and help boost tourism.

Planning was refused in September, with the planning officer saying the proposals could not be accepted because they were contrary to several planning policies including how they would look "would not fit well in the setting".

220m track

The application was for the two rides to be in place between 1 April and 31 October each year.

Prior to that, Blackpool Council's planning committee had also refused to grant permission for the ride to remain on the Prom alongside South Pier, back in September 2018, after having given it temporary approval to be sited there on an earlier occasion.

Now the applicants are back, this time with a bid for a Certificate of Proposed Lawfulness, which would effectively mean they would not need formal planning permission.

The applicants argue that the intended use of the land around the pier is similar to the council's own Christmas By the Sea, close to North Pier.

The proposals are for the siting of two rides, one immediately to the south of South Pier and the other immediately to the north of South Pier.

Each ride would be installed independently and would be in situ for a period between 1 April and 31 October each year.

The log flume, comes in multiple formats, but essentially has a footprint of 42m (138ft) by 18m (59ft) and a height of 12m (39ft) , with a total track length of some 220m (722ft) interwoven within a mini lake setting, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.