Wigan Athletic chairman Dave Whelan is selling around £50m of shares in JJB Sports in a bid to help the Premiership club avoid relegation. The club are currently in 17th place and just two points above the relegation zone.
The Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) has announced that sections of the Metrolink track running between Bury and Altrincham will be replaced during the summer. Replacement buses will be provided while the work takes place.
As reported earlier Manchester is the surprise winner in the contest for Britain’s first Las Vegas-style casino. The city, ranked by bookmakers as outsiders, beat favourites Blackpool and London to win the lucrative license. The casino will be based near the City of Manchester stadium and will feature around 70 gaming tables and 1,250 high payout slot machines and create around 3,000 jobs. A hotel, swimming pool, restaurants and bars are also planned. The project is expected to be completed in around three years.
Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, said ‘I think the bookies did have us as a rank outsider this morning but fortunately it was an independent panel making the decision, not the bookies. It is going to be a real boost to the regeneration of what is one of the most deprived areas of the country. And we’re now really looking forward to taking this forward.’
The decision, by the independent Casino Advisory Panel, has come has a huge shock to many in Blackpool, which had hoped a favourable decision would help regenerate the resort.
Doug Garrett, chief executive of Blackpool’s urban regeneration company ReBlackpool said ‘I’m very disappointed indeed at the outcome, Blackpool’s future was something built around our plan. We believe the case that we put forward was a compelling one. We certainly won’t be taking this as an end result. We still want to see change here.’
Just a few minutes ago the independent Casino Advisory Panel named Manchester as the site of Britain’s new super casino. The decision has come as a shock to many as the city was a rank outsider in the race for the lucrative licence. Most commentators had expected that the panel would choose Blackpool or London’s Millennium Dome. More news on this story as it develops throughout the day.
The war memorial on Blackpool’s Promenade will be restored at a cost of £80,000. The work is expected be begin shortly and should be complete by Remembrance Day in November. The work is being funded by Blackpool Council, the Northwest Regional Development Agency and the Heritage Lottery Fund. The Grade II listed structure was built in 1923.
Preston’s Tithebarn regeneration project received a major boost this week as John Lewis confirmed plans for a 230,000 sq ft store. The £500m mixed-use development aims to transform Preston city centre and will include over 80 retail stores, a multiplex cinema, 400 homes and a hotel.
Plans to replace Blackpool’s ageing trams hit a major obstacle as a prototype replacement caught fire on the promenade on Wednesday. Initial investigations have indicated that an electrical fault was the cause of the blaze.
National Football Museum director Kevin Moore has stated that the Preston attraction may have to cut services if additional funding is not received. He stated that the museum receives less than £1 subsidy per visitor while many other museums receive more than £18. Government funding for the attraction has not increased since 2003.
The new International Slavery Museum at the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool has received a £500,000 grant from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It will replace the existing Transatlantic Slavery exhibition and will be comprise two sections, the first will be completed in August 2007 and the second in 2010. The city played a major role in the slave trade in the 18th century.
Fishergate Shopping Centre in Preston has reopened after damage caused by the severe weather last Thursday led to its closure for safety reasons. The high winds caused slates and other debris to fall from nearby Fishergate Baptist Church.