Plans for pay and display in Blackpool town centre

An application for a car park for 35 vehicles to to built on land off Hornby Road following the demolition of two buildings on the street was validated on Thursday.

The plans, submitted by Darren Wilkinson of Charnley Road, would also see the installation of two height restricting barriers, lighting and cameras, and a knee-high railing.

A spokesman for Simply Ecology Limited, which carried out a bat building inspection in Hornby Road that would have to be demolished to make way for the car park, said: “Key considerations for the ecologist in drawing their conclusions were the highly urbanised coastal location of the properties as this greatly reduced the likelihood of bats using these buildings.

This was due to the very limited suitability of the surrounding habitat for bats which had exceedingly low foraging potential due to the urban nature of the Blackpool landscape.

“As such, it was concluded that the buildings do not have the potential to support bats and that, based upon what was observed during the inspection, there is no reasonably foreseeable likelihood that roosting bats are present.”