Approval lined up for mixed-use Blackpool scheme

Revised plans for a mixed-use development in Blackpool – which are considered to be a “positive step towards the regeneration of the area” – look set to secure approval.The application concerns a site on Church Street and Abingdon Street.It sits within the Town Centre Conservation Area and forms part of the Winter Gardens setting.Proposed is a part-three, part-four and part-five-storey building, including commercial and residential basement storage, comprising ground floor retail space alongside a restaurant and betting shop.On the upper floors would be 18 self-contained apartments accessed from Abingdon Street following the demolition of existing buildings.Withdrawn plans proposed a part-six and part-seven-storey building with commercial premises on the ground floor and 29 apartments above. However, its scale and massing was deemed “excessive in its historic setting”.The new scheme – which is expected to yield a host of economic benefits – will go before Blackpool Council’s planning committee on 3 August, with a recommendation for approval.