Ambitious Cork City Council plan to upgrade Blackpool Village with new parks and green spaces

Blackpool Village is to get a facelift of an enlarged village square, multiple new parks, and an initiative to tackle vacancy, all in the coming years.

The core concept design-and-implementation strategy notes that Blackpool in the 18th and 19th centuries saw rapid growth of industries, including mills, breweries, distilleries, tanneries, and cattle facilities.

The decline of these industries from the mid-20th century had a similar effect on the village centre, while the latter part of the century saw the construction of the shopping centre and Blackpool surrender a lot of its public realm to traffic.

An assessment identifies vacancy and dereliction as an ongoing issue, with a rate of 30% to 32% vacancy in commercial and hospitality premises.

Land-use analysis indicates that Blackpool has just 9% green space, of which only 1% is publicly accessible, resulting in a “significant deficiency”.

Community engagement highlighted poor public realm conditions, including uneven footpaths, inadequate crossings, and poor lighting, as well as flood risk, traffic-related noise, and air-quality impacts, and issues with illegal dumping.

Structured around four projects

Alongside plans for enhanced public lighting and additional trees and planters, the strategy is structured around four projects.

The first is an enlarged village square, wrapping around the Church of the Annunciation, supported by the removal of traffic north of the church

Berwick Lane, beside the former cinema now occupied by Cork Community Art Link, was described as currently being “dangerous and unwelcoming”.

The council plans to pedestrianise it and put in a new community cafe and pocket park.

This could host street theatre and community art, after consulting with gardaí over concerns around the potential for antisocial behaviour.

The plan also includes the reconfiguration of the N20 crossing and the transformation of the “underutilised” green space west of the road into a community garden, while east of the N20 will be home to an accessible hillside park with seating areas.

The council noted that the benefits of these public-realm projects would be limited by ongoing issues with vacancy.

One Stop Shop

With this in mind, the fourth action is a dedicated One Stop Shop pilot in Blackpool to support the refurbishment and reoccupation of vacant and derelict properties by streamlining access to funding programmes and supports.

This project can be progressed in the short term, by 2030, while the other three will require capital investment and project development, including design and site acquisition, and to go through planning processes.

Facade improvements around the new village square site can be delivered in the coming years, but the majority of the other projects are likely to be ongoing for the next decade.

Cork City Council chief executive Valerie O’Sullivan said: “Blackpool village was once a thriving hub on the city’s northside. It is time to restore its vibrancy and enhance its distinctive character for a new future.”

Louise Jordan of Blackpool Community Centre told The Echo: “The proposals will be wonderful for Blackpool.

“We know that many plans have been proposed before and not acted on; we are determined that will not happen again.”