Blackpool Pier Company has been denied permission to erect a Log Flume and a Starflyer at the landward end of the South Pier, after appealing Blackpool City Council’s “disingenuous” decision to reject the initial proposals at a feisty public inquiry.
The Planning Inspectorate has rejected Blackpool Pier Company’s bid to erect two new rides at the landward end of the South Pier, after the operator appealed Blackpool Council’s “disingenuous” decision to refuse a Certificate of Proposed Lawfulness last year.
The company maintained that the Log Flume and Starflyer rides were necessary to boost footfall to the pier, however the proposals were twice denied by the local authority, with the decision now described as “well-founded” by the government’s planning inspector.
“I conclude that as a matter of fact and degree both the Starflyer and the log flume rides constitute buildings in the terms of Cardiff Rating and Skerritts,” wrote inspector Paul Freer. “Section 57 of the 1990 Act states that planning permission is required for the carrying out of any development of land.”
“There is no planning permission in place, deemed or otherwise, for either the Starflyer or the log flume rides. I therefore conclude that, on the balance of probability, the development(s) proposed in the LDC application would not have been lawful on the date that the application was made.”
The pier company’s appeal highlighted the fact that Blackpool Council had granted itself permission to erect rides on the seafront near the North Pier for its Christmas by the Sea event, stating “it is somewhat disingenuous now for the Council to argue that the proposal now before the Inspector is not a use of land but operational development.”
However, Freer said he would not comment on Christmas by the Sea, only the two applications before him, deciding “the development proposed is contrary to the development plan.”
“Accordingly, I conclude that planning permission ought not to be granted for the development that is proposed.”
Originally published on Coinslot on August 24, 2026. Republished with permission.