Why regenerating South Shore must be a top priority

Preparation for the demolition of Hartes department store on Waterloo Road and Bond Street is underway, with neighbouring business owners breathing a sigh of relief. This has to be a step in the right direction for the regeneration of South Shore.

Waterloo Road and Bond Street were once thriving local and tourist hotspots which underpinned our local economy all year round.

When Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner last visited Blackpool with me, she saw for herself the awful visible decline of these areas. 

I took the first opportunity back in parliament to ask a pressing question on behalf of many of my constituents in Blackpool South – will the Deputy Prime Minister work with me to ensure the area’s successful regeneration?

I was encouraged by her response, just days after Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy had visited South Shore with me – the latest in a roster of government names who have now visited the area. In recent times I’ve also brought the Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds and even the Prime Minister to Bond Street and Waterloo Road. 

Lisa and I visited two generations old family businesses in South Shore – Notarianni's and the Pleasure Beach. Like Angela Rayner, Lisa is a northern woman with strong connections to Blackpool – they represent a government who gets Blackpool and what we need to unlock our great potential.

With the PM and Education Secretary at Notarianni’s and me and Lisa Nandy stepping off the Big One

Much is being done on the ground in Blackpool too. While Blackpool South now has boundaries that stretch all the way up to North Shore, South Shore is a part of my constituency that I am determined to help improve. Even before becoming MP I invested in the area. I was chair of Counselling in the Community which took on and renovated a property on Waterloo Road that is now a hub of the community. I have set up my constituency office in the heart of South Shore and I am developing strong links with the community and local businesses. A couple of weeks ago I hosted a pop in surgery at Pit Stop Cafe on Waterloo Road where the owner, Sarah, is a pillar of the community. 

Since my election I have also joined the South Shore Regeneration Group led by Blackpool Tourism Business Improvement District (T BID). Tourism businesses in South Shore shared their challenges and ideas with T BID which responded with the idea to bring business and community representatives together to create a masterplan for the area which the council is also supportive of.

Blackpool born Eddie Nelder, director of Choice Hotels and board member of T BID, told me that the group feels it is essential that the community is as much a focus as business and that bringing them together will help regenerate the area, bring more footfall and bring the shops back to life. Attending South Shore Regeneration Groups meetings is inspiring. There is so much positivity and creativity driving the ideas for this area forward. 

This week in Westminster I was unanimously voted in as chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Hospitality and Tourism. The APPG plays an essential role in informing the government’s decision-making process and ensuring that the concerns and needs of the hospitality and tourism industry are heard. It will examine the key issues, opportunities and challenges facing the hospitality sector across the UK and my experiences from South Shore will feed directly into this role, allowing me to represent the area to people who can help us drive change forward. 

Some members of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Hospitality and Tourism which I have been elected to chair

Despite all these positive steps, when walking along Waterloo Road and Bond Street it is clear there’s a long way to go. In recent weeks I have been dealing with a constituent’s case regarding her property on Bond Street. The neighbouring building to hers is not just dilapidated but reduced to a pile of rubble – some of which is due to a fire at another neighbouring property. 

The site has been like this for years and has become a target for fly tippers – it even features a boat! Various council departments are involved in this complex case – Building Control, Environmental Health and Planning Enforcement. A Community Protection Warning, followed by a Community Protection Notice were both served and ignored in 2023 but have now been reissued following my involvement. The council is considering its next steps should the notice be ignored again. 

Meanwhile, a property that has become a potent symbol of South Shore’s decline is finally being pulled down. Workers are busy preparing the former Hartes department store on the corner of Waterloo Road and Bond Street for demolition which will begin on Monday (9th September) and is expected to take around four weeks. 

Hartes on the corner of Waterloo Road and Bond Street. Photo: Lancs Live

Luca Vetesse, the fourth generation Italian ice cream seller, who neighbours Hartes at Notarianni’s on Waterloo Road, said he breathed a huge sigh of relief when he learnt it was coming down. He feels anything is better than the eyesore that the former Woolworths building has become.

The decision to demolish the building has come after it was recently deemed unsafe by inspectors. Locally this has been a real fear for some time and as far back as 2022 an independent planning inspector said demolition was the only option for the building which has significantly declined over the past few years. 

Owner Howard Plant had intended to pull the building down as soon as he bought it five years ago. His plan was to use the land as a car park – something local businesses want – but planners refused the application for a number of reasons including highway safety, with proposed access to the car park being a specific issue. This refusal was later upheld by the Planning Inspectorate on appeal. There was also a feeling the site should be the location of a prominent building, as it has been since it was first built as a market in 1909. 

The property was also named by Historic England as one of a cluster of significant buildings in South Shore that suggested the area should be recognised as an Area of Special Local Character, causing further delays to demolition. 

The owner has submitted new plans for the building – to rebuild it as modern holiday apartments with on-site parking and ground floor retail units. Planners have indicated they are supportive of the new application, and I’m hopeful that once the remaining issues have been resolved, it will be approved. Until the planning is approved and a developer takes it on, however, the site will remain empty and I’m concerned that it will become another target for anti-social behaviour and fly tipping.

                                                  Plans submitted for the Hartes site

Across the road the old Post Office on Waterloo Road is another empty heritage asset that I do not want to see fall into the same state of disrepair as Hartes. Buildings like this need to be preserved and given a new lease of life with a modern purpose. 

Under the directorate of the previous government, which focussed its regeneration schemes on town centres, Blackpool Council has successfully breathed new life into much of ours. But local centres like Waterloo Road and Bond Street have been left behind. Now is the time to turn our attention to these areas and I’ll be asking the council how we can work together to achieve this.

It’s clear that there are no quick fixes to regenerating South Shore, but what we do have is a will to make it happen among the community, businesses, local and central government. The demolition of Hartes, South Shore Regeneration Group’s masterplan, and the government’s commitment are all steps in the right direction. I will be involved in developing a new vision for South Shore before ensuring it is seen by the right people so we can unlock the investment we need.