Blackburn high street to get £237k makeover thanks to grant

The £237,000 comes from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLHUC) as part of its High Street Accelerator.

In a report to colleagues Blackburn with Darwen Council's growth boss Cllr Quesir Mahmood says: "King William Street, Blackburn, has been selected by the High Street Task Force as one of the 10 High Street Accelerators.

"It is a pilot project and an opportunity to trial new ways of working to revitalise the high street and to tackle vacancies.

"The council submitted a proposal specific to the King William Street which was approved by DHLUC.

"Each of 10 accelerators will receive £237,000 revenue funding and the opportunity to apply for additional capital funding in 2024 for high street environmental and greening projects.

"The King William Street ‘area’ (which also includes Town Hall Street, New Market Street and Northgate) was selected for a number of reasons.

Wilko's closure was a blow to King William Street last year

"Its historic role as the town’s commercial and civic core, and proximity to the Mall Shopping centre, means the area retains its physical status as the town main ‘high street’, yet it in more recent times it no longer operates as traditional high street or focal point of activity for the town.

"While regeneration initiatives have helped other areas of the town centre over the last 15 years, around King William Street the ongoing challenges are particularly stark.

"Vacancies have increased and the quality of offer weakened with the loss of independent retail and leisure, closure of banks and major high street retailers like Debenhams and Wilko.

"The only remaining retail anchor is M&S, which is likely to close within two years.

Marks & Spencer wants to leave Blackburn town centre

"This means King William Street currently struggles to entice visitors out of the comfort of the shopping centre, footfall continues to decline and this has a knock-on effect to the vitality of surrounding areas.

"A small programme of cultural projects and meanwhile uses supported by small property grants and discretionary rates incentives have been relatively successful in helping to create temporary interest but this is not a long-term solution and cannot be sustained without also tackling lack of funding to properly maintain the environment, badly-maintained properties, absent landlords, and anti-social behaviour.

"A Blackburn high street was selected rather than a Darwen high street because Darwen was announced recently as one of the 55 towns announced by government to benefit from a Long Term Plan with £20m funding over 10 years in addition to the £25m Town Deal.

"The project will seek to encourage an enhanced cultural and leisure offer on King William Street.

"The environment will be improved with cleaner and greener streets.

"Where properties are vacant or no longer financially viable for retail uses, the project will seek alternative uses.

"The streets will be animated with markets, events, street art and music.

"It is important that King William Street can reinvent itself to regain its status as the town’s gold standard high street, a desirable destination in its own right but also a gateway to other areas of the town centre."