Southport

[Gary]

Pleasureland has grown from a seedy exciting noisy place from my childhood into a clean and very respected park today.

The building of the sea wall in 1999 certainly acted as a catalyst for new investment but what of the future??

Southport is changing fast and all for the better:

The following are probably more fact than fiction but you never know...

Possible Snow Centre on Ocean Boulevard? (I'll believe it when I see it)

The demolition of the dreadful zoo:

"The borough is preparing to lease a strip of land at the north of Princes Park to Pleasureland for a new ride on the Southport Zoo site next door.

An undisclosed figure for the loss of open space would be used to research development options for the remaining parkland.

A recent report to cabinet members confirmed only a strip of green down the side of the park would be lost and not a third of the park as feared by some residents."

A go kart track to disappear from Pleasureland and to be eaten up by Ocean Boulevard (The snow centre??)

An extension to The Floral Hall complex with hotel near it.

The building of a 59 bedroomed 3 storey Whitbread Travel Inn on the site of the old Happyland.

Aquarium to be demolished to make way for a 'specialist' skateboard park.

£12m Work to begin on Marine Lake and Princess Park to make it more attractive to visitors.

Eco Centre on the Pay & Display car park near Pleasureland (It's being built as I type this)

There is much more to come...

In short, watch the Merseyside space known as Southport..

Now..if only Margate...

[Nick]

...and a new resort casino? That is a possibility, if they don't all go to Liverpool and Manchester.

Nick

[Graeme]

I think the extension of Pleasureland is one of the most exciting developments at the moment. They're quite an unpredictable park, and I can't wait to see what they come up with.

Am I right in thinking the strip of parkland in question is right next to the Cyclone, alongside the lift hill? Does that land stretch all the way up to the zoo? What I'm getting at, is whether it's likely the zoo area and parkland will be two separate extensions, or whether they'll house the same group of rides.

Like I say, I can't wait to see what they come up with!

[Gary]

Graeme,

If you have Adobe Acrobat you could try clicking below and look on page 20. It's an early draft I think but make of it what you will.

In fact, if you have time, the whole document makes interesting reading!

http://www.sefton.gov.uk/planning/udp/seafront.pdf

[Graeme]

Thanks very much for the link, Gary. It sounds exactly the sort of thing I like to read! I upgraded my Acrobat Reader from 3.0 to 5.0, but unfortunately, I just can't open that file at all, even though I can get the website up if I take the extensions off.

[Nick]

The PDF file seems to be corrupt. I have Acrobat (as opposed to just the Reader), and it tells me the file is corrupt. I assume it opens OK on your computer, Gary.

Nick

[Nick]

There is also a similarly fascinating section in the new Blackpool Local Plan (which was released last week). The Council wants the Pleasure Beach to expand outside its existing boundaries - their vision for the park sounds fascinating.

http://www.blackpool.gov.uk/Services/at ... ulldoc.pdf

Scroll down to the Tourism Chapter and read all about their plans for the Pleasure Beach end of town.

Nick

[Gary]

I don't understand because now I don't appear to be able to access the site.

As far as I am aware the pages had been up for some time on the web and are public knowledge.

Ah well, you could always have a look here at this snippet and again make of it what you will

Cheers!

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/radiceathome/plan.html

[dave]

Hi was'ent it Silcocks who want to open a casino resort at southport, they own a lot of land around the promenade area and have other plans for projects, thats why all there francised rides and stalls were taken out of pleasureland, There are certianly exciting times ahead for the southport areas its nice to see that theres money being pumped into it, pity it has'ent happened at morcambe for instance a real shame...
regards dave.....

[Graeme]

Brilliant! Thanks Gary, much appreciated.

It's great to see, especially as it depicts rides like Cyclone and the go kart track for comparison. The plans are much better than I realised. Having never been in the zoo, I didn't know how big it was, but it appears that the land available is twice the width of the Cyclone and slightly longer! Add the "Potential Development Site" and it's even more promising!

I definitely think it's in Southport's interest to let Pleasureland do this.

[Graeme]

Nick, thanks for the Blackpool link also. My Acrobat Reader can open this one, but it's a bit too much for my computer to handle nonetheless! I did scroll down quite far, but then it all went wrong!

Very interesting to hear about any developments at Blackpool. I'm quite surprised the Council itself wants the Pleasure Beach to expand. I would have thought it'd be the other way round - the Pleasure Beach asking the Council if they can expand!

Is there any chance you could give a brief summary, please? I just want to know which direction the Pleasure Beach might expand in - ie. East, South etc?

[Nick]

The Council wants the Pleasure Beach to expand in a northerly direction, and to "spill out" of its existing boundaries so that it is less "cramped" than it is now. Basically, the Council thinks that Blackpool can benefit more from the popularity of the park by the park paying less attention to its existing boundaries. The Council's vision is one of the Pleasure Beach expanding across its northern car parks and the redevelopment of the hotels north of the site.

[Graeme]

The Council wants the Pleasure Beach to expand in a northerly direction, and to "spill out" of its existing boundaries so that it is less "cramped" than it is now.

LOL, trust me! I suggested East or South and it's actually North! The reason I didn't suggest North, was because I didn't see how they could expand any further than their current border, as there is a road there, and then buildings on the other side of that. But I hear you.

The Northern car park itself is quite valuable space, I imagine. If it gets to the stage where the Pleasure Beach doesn't need that area for cars, then so be it. I guess this means the council are keen to provide access from its brand new car park (I think I read this would be large and quite green). I imagine there will be some sort of overpass to cross the road from the new car park to the Pleasure Beach?

[Graeme]

Nick, do you know if there's going to be a Commons vote on the gambling laws? Is a date set? Thanks.

[Nick]

It is currently with a Scrutiny Committee, but should be back in the Commons later this year. With luck, it will be all through by early next year.