Blackpool businesses in row with council over parking ban which they say threatens their future

Businesses in Blackpool have accused the council of hitting the wrong note after receiving letters telling them they do not own their forecourts and in one instance banning parking.

Blackpool Music School and Best Foods, both on Waterloo Road, South Shore, have each been hit with demands after receiving letters to say the forecourts are owned by the council, despite the frontages being used for customer parking for many years.

Blackpool Music School, which is run as a charity and community interest company, has been told it must either buy or lease its forecourt while Best Foods has been blocked from using its forecourt parking.

Concrete planters have been installed by town hall officials to prevent parking which the council says is dangerous so close to the traffic light junction with Vicarage Lane.

Now both businesses are calling for a change of heart after warning the loss of parking would impact their trade.

But the council says it has taken action due to safety concerns, and after reviewing a number of forecourts has written to all the businesses concerned informing them they are council-owned.

Thilakshana Shanthakumar operates Best Foods which has been open for about a year, with a beauty parlour and textiles business on the first floor.

She says she has invested around £1m buying and refurbishing the building which she believed was sold with the parking on the forecourt.

She is willing to buy or lease the frontage but has been told by the council the area cannot be used for parking with direct access.

Mrs Shanthakumar said: “For the last 30 or 40 years the previous owners of this building have always used the forecourt as a car park. So why have they done this now and said I cannot use it for parking?

“I sell world foods and am trying to serve the Asian community in Blackpool. My business could close if this continues and I cannot use the parking.”

John Shaw, who founded Blackpool Music School in 2006, said: “When we bought this building in 2011 we were told the sale included the forecourt, and since then we have spent around £7,500 improving it.

“All these years we have been here, we thought we owned it. We are a charity and have 150 students now and if we have to find the money to buy or lease the forecourt it will affect our finances.

“I feel very upset and angry because we have put so much into this place and are making such a difference to people’s lives. ”

Debbie Smart, general manager at the music school, added: “We are trying to get the community involved in music and all the council is doing is making it harder for us. We have students with disabilities and they need to park on the forecourt.”

A Blackpool Council spokesperson said: “In 2022, we became aware of works being carried out on a forecourt owned by the council.

“Following discussions with the owners it was determined that parking on the forecourt couldn’t be permitted due to several factors, including the proximity to a busy traffic signal junction and obstructions that make it unsafe for cars to exit onto the road.

“Although parking on the forecourt may have happened historically, this was less frequent and would now cause an increased safety risk due to the area’s high pedestrian and traffic activity.

“During the last two years we have been in contact with the owners to try and find a suitable solution. Unfortunately parking on the forecourt has continued and we have had no option but to take action to prevent the potentially dangerous unauthorised use of this area.

“This conversation has resulted in us reviewing all forecourts in the immediate vicinity and we have written to a number of properties. Each location is looked at individually and evaluated on its own merits, with not all sites suitable for parking under today’s regulations.

“Where approval for any type of use of a council-owned forecourt is granted, formal arrangements will need to be in place for such use.”