Since 18th May the inquiry has continued into whether Tithebarn is giving the City of Preston too much retail advantage in relation to the towns of Blackpool and Blackburn.
Some highlights of this week’s case by Blackpool and Blackburn against the proposal are that Preston is highly ranked at 38th in Britain in its retail shopping, while Blackpool is a lowly 95th and Blackburn 130th using the results of the National Survey of Retail Shopping Patterns. Also that Preston is a regional transport hub and the proposed new bus station and surrounding roads are inadequate to support Tithebarn.
In many ways these arguments against Tithebarn strengthen its case. At the moment the hub of the North West is firmly in Manchester, with Liverpool also being a major centre, both cities being on the southern edge of the NW Region. Both of these cities get a lot of attention and investment. There is a case for more investment further north. England extends 130 miles north of Manchester, almost a third of its length, yet little investment goes beyond that city. Areas further north should be encouraged to keep their wealth and not to feed places that already get a lot of investment. Preston is the first major stop for that large area of the north.