New green space with picnic tables created in the town centre in bid to attract shoppers
A new garden area has been created in part of Blackpool town centre where people can take a seat and relax.
The space at the western end of Queen Street has been transformed with picnic benches, planters and fencing using funding from the High Street Accelerators Fund aimed at attracting more people to the high street.
The garden area is expected to remain in place temporarily throughout the autumn and it is hoped it will draw people into Queen Street from the Promenade especially during the day time.
Longer term plans to green up Queen Street and Abingdon Street are still being finalised after Blackpool was awarded £500,000 in May from the High Street Accelerators Pilot Programme Green Spaces Funding.
The council recently came under fire for not providing enough green space in the town centre. Calls to transform empty land around the new Holiday Inn hotel into an urban park were dismissed, with the site earmarked for use as a car park instead.
But council leader Coun Lynn Williams said there were other projects to green up the town centre including the area near Central Library and the Grundy Art Gallery which is also part of the ‘Be Who You Want To Be’ initiative to to create an LGBTQ+ heritage district.