Profile of Blackpool

Blackpool is synonymous with fun and enjoyment. It is England’s largest and most popular seaside resort with approximately 10 million visitors annually. It is also the main retail, public administration, cultural and service centre for the wider Fylde coast (population
estimated to be 328,800). Located in the North West of England, Blackpool covers 35 km2 of land, with 11.2 km (seven miles) of sea front. It supports a resident population of around 142,700 which is the most densely populated Borough in the North West.

Birth rates are below the regional and national rates, and are outnumbered by the death rate. However the population is projected to increase in the future. There is a relatively low proportion of minority ethnic groups (1.6%) but above regional average of over 65s (19.1%), and Blackpool has the largest gay community in Lancashire along with a growing faith sector. Intensely urban and compact in form, Blackpool is characterised at its heart by the Resort Core, some 5km2 containing the iconic Blackpool Tower, the three piers, the Winter Gardens, the town centre, the Golden Mile hosting an array of amusements and arcades, the ever popular Blackpool Pleasure Beach and the famous Illuminations, offering a rich and diverse cultural offer in its music, performing arts, entertainment, heritage and other varied leisure attractions.

The Resort Core also contains dense neighbourhoods of holiday guesthouses and hotels supporting around 35,000 holiday bed spaces. Not conventionally recognised as an historic town, Blackpool’s extended period of development in the late 19th century and growing popularity in the early to mid 20th century has left a tremendous legacy of late Victorian and early 20th century commercial resort architecture. Away from the seafront and the town centre, Blackpool is predominantly residential in character. Even within the Resort Core a
large proportion of hotels and guesthouses are domestic in scale and appearance and are permanent homes to hotel proprietors and their families as well as a temporary residence for visitors Blackpool has a workforce of around 62,000 economically active people with an economy that is underpinned by tourism and the service sector. Small businesses predominate with only around 70 companies employing more than 70 people each. The town is also an important administrative centre, accommodating a number of large Government offices. Although there is no tradition of heavy industry, the town’s small manufacturing sector includes local specialism in food and drink, and plastics.

The M55 connects the heart of the town to the national motorway network via the two-mile Central Gateway. Access by the national rail network is through Blackpool North Station with local rail services using stations at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, South Shore, and Layton. 37% of Blackpool’s households have no access to a car and rely primarily on public transport, including the Blackpool tramway, one of the oldest electric tramways in the world which runs for 11 miles from Starr Gate in Blackpool up toFleetwood and carries around 6,500,000 passengers each year. Blackpool International Airport, located just across the Borough boundary in Fylde Borough, operates regular charter and scheduled flights throughout the UK and to over 25 European destinations, carrying 541,968 passengers during 2007.