A New Super £7m Bingo Hall Gets the Go Ahead in Blackpool!

If you’re a Blackpool resident, chances are, you are going to be thrilled by the latest developments down on Rigby Road – this time next year, you could be playing in a brand-new bingo hall, courtesy of Club 3000, but the application has been far from plain sailing. Recently, Blackpool’s Council planning committee had turned down the proposals for a new £7m super bingo hall, but the Club was not going to take things laying down…

…so, they resubmitted their plans to redevelop part of the Festival Leisure Park and thanks to an independent planning inspector, the previous ruling has been over-turned! The successful appeal by the major land-based bingo operator will mean a new venue by the summer of 2020.

Councillors had previously warned that there would be a loss of more than 100 parking spaces and that the Swift Hound pub would need demolition to make way for the new proposals, not only that but they stressed that the new investment would have a detrimental impact on the neighbourhood, especially the traffic. But Mike Worden, the independent planning inspector branded the concerns as nonsense: “The proposal would not be harmful to the character and appearance of the area.”

In July 2018, the planning committee rejected the plans over fears it would have a huge impact on traffic and cause problems on surrounding residential streets, including the £50m Foxhall Village.

The new bingo venue will come in at a cost of £7m and already houses restaurants, a gyn and an Odeon cinema. Brian Fraser (founder) said: “We are delighted to be given the opportunity to develop our latest venue in Blackpool, a place which I am passionate about since coming here every year as a child. We can’t wait to get started in building a first class venue for existing and new customers.”

Daubers at the Ready:

The new bingo hall will create at least 55 new jobs and the company said it aims “to promote Blackpool as a tourist destination for its existing and new customers.”

A spokesperson for the bingo company added: “Bingo is a unique leisure activity which is involved with local communities and we look forward being a part of that.”

To make way for the new venue, the pub will need to be demolished, although as sad as it seems, the operator Greene King had stated that the venue was underperforming. The existing site will see a loss of 100 parking spaces as the development gets underway and this will mean the bingo club will cover a site 6x larger than it already does – that’s some super bingo hall!

To eliminate parking and traffic problems before the new venue opens, Mr Worden has already introduced new parking controls at the site and restrictions such as double yellow lines, as well as residents only parking areas. He also added: “Furthermore, a new car parking management arrangement has recently been put in place on the site which uses ANPR technology to control car parking usage and stay. This system would free up spaces for users of the park itself and ensure that spaces were not taken up by people visiting the nearby football ground and resort attractions for example.”