Blackpool Multiversity 'game-changing for town'

The main campus would be carbon-neutral

Plans have been submitted for a new education campus, which a council has hailed as a "game-changer" for a town's regeneration.

An outline planning application for the Multiversity campus for Blackpool and The Fylde College has been submitted.

The five-storey campus on Cookson Street could bring up to 3,000 new staff and students to the town centre.

The £65m development would allow Blackpool and The Fylde College to relocate from out of town centres.

The campus would form part of the £350m Talbot Gateway regeneration of the area around Blackpool North train station.

Built by Blackpool Council, it would be 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 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.

'Improve town's skills base'

Designed to be carbon-neutral, the main campus building would be surrounded by landscaping and pedestrianised "to make it a safer environment for students".

Councillor Lynn Williams, leader of Blackpool Council, said it would be "a game-changing addition to Blackpool town centre".

She added: "The Multiversity will also help improve the town's skills base so that our local people can learn work-ready skills and gain university level qualifications without leaving the town, while also offering a world class education campus that will help attract people to study, live and work in Blackpool."

Alun Francis, principal and chief executive, Blackpool and The Fylde College, said it "will genuinely transform the opportunities for people in Blackpool and on the Fylde coast".

He added: "This is one of the best things to happen to Blackpool for a generation."

The land for the new Multiversity is currently being acquired by Blackpool Council, with the support of a £9m government grant as part of the Blackpool Town Deal, which was awarded in March 2022.

The project was also awarded £40m as part of the government's Levelling-Up funding in January 2023.

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