United stance needed on Blackpool village future-proofing

People in Blackpool have called for a united stance on restoring the identity of the village on the northside of the city while future-proofing it for generations to come.

Calls were made during a meeting of traders on Friday evening at Glen Rovers Hurling Club for the protection of the biodiversity in Blackpool by the retention and improvement of the River Bride.

During the meeting, the Blackpool Traders Group (BTG) which comprises of chairman Mick Moriarty, who owns the Baldy Barber in Blackpool, secretary Tadhg O’Leary of O’Shea’s Pharmacy and PRO Jer Buckley, presented a plan to improve connectivity in the area, deliver a greenway linking Blackpool to Blarney, and find solutions to ongoing flooding issues.

There was an impressive turnout of traders and local residents at the meeting, including representation from local politicians, some of whom called for “trust and collaboration” among the people of Blackpool and for alternative plans to be considered in relation to the greenway.

Speaking during the meeting, Green Party councillor Oliver Moran said: “I think, like what John Sheehan said, this is actually Blackpool’s time if we can get that trust and collaboration together.” 

“We could start arguing over different points of where your proposed greenway is going to go but the big vision is something that I think there is an opportunity to get behind.” 

He said that he and councilor John Sheehan put in a t motion for the greenway last week “ because I think that’s a really powerful vision for Blackpool if it can be done”.

He said that time will tell where the proposed greenway can be taken, but said that there should be reliance on the experts including the OPW and experts in City Hall who he said should be the ones relied upon to set the route of the greenway.

“The councilors who are here, yourselves, I see people from the Community Centre - we should all get together and start developing a plan for Blackpool that everyone can get behind.

“Instead of concentrating on the things that divide us, I think our energy would be better put concentrating on things that unite us because this is Balckpool’s time,” he said.

The OPW’s state-of-the-art Flood Scheme designed to address the flooding issues, including a proposed 350m culvert over the river, has been paused as the culvert has been at the centre of an unresolved legal objection by local environmental group Save Our Bride Otters (SOBO).

Blackpool Traders Group wants to see the delivery of a greenway, which would run for a 350m stretch through Blackpool village and cross the River Bride over the proposed culvert, and stretch as far as Blarney Castle, but this cannot be advanced until the culvert issue is resolved.

Following a recent tour of the proposed greenway route, however, deputy chief executive of the National Transport Authority (NTA) Hugh Creegan said the proposal does have merit and requires further investigation.