A worried resident says he is struggling to find a new home as a council looks to acquire land for a proposed multi-varsity, forcing residents to move out of the area.

Planning Inspector Phillip Ware will oversee an eight-day public inquiry into a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) that Blackpool Council is seeking to clear the land for the project.

The council has already acquired 70% of the land between Cookson Street, Milbourne Street, George Street and Grosvenor Street, but 13 objections were lodged with the CPO, triggering the public inquiry.

One resident said he had been looking for another home in the city center “for months” but had found nothing suitable.

The resident, of George Street, who did not want to be named, said he felt very concerned about being in the CPO area and would have to move.

“We are both disabled, we have a mentally ill child, no one is helping us, we are in the dark,” he said.

The man, who has lived on the street in the city center for 10 years, said: “We were supposed to be out by August, it’s boarded up houses, they’re all leaving one by one, we don’t feel safe with empty property on either side. between us.

“This is a rental property and the owner wants us out so he can sell, he has no interest in us, they were just a figure in his head now.”

He said the family had been looking “for months” for another house in the city centre.

“We can’t find it anywhere,” he said. “It’s nowhere in our budget and there’s nothing available for what we need.

“We have good memories here so it’s a shame we have to go.

“We have everything here, we have the dentist here, the doctor there, the children’s school is right here and all the shops.”

Jeweler Andrew Clayton said hearing about the CPO left him “surprised”.

“We were looking forward to the new building over the road, with a pool for lunch expenses, and we were looking to redevelop the premises we had,” he said.

The business recently had to move to Topping Street from Cookson Street after 61 years due to the multiversity plans.

“I don’t think the council understands the costs involved in moving to another store with security and bespoke displays,” Mr Clayton said. “We financed everything ourselves.

“We’re closer to the city so we get more foot traffic, but on Cookson Street there was the benefit of more parking.”

Nick Gerrard, growth and prosperity manager at the council, told a recent meeting of the tourism, economy and communities scrutiny committee that the council needed to show the CPO was in the public interest, with fair compensation given to those displaced.

Some objections have been withdrawn as negotiations continue to buy the property, with the hearing set to hear evidence from the remaining objectors and the council.

The public inquiry will take place at the Imperial Hotel on the North Promenade, between November 12-15.

It is then due to reopen between December 3 and 6, although if all the evidence is heard it could close earlier.

The inspector will consider all the evidence before publishing his decision, which is expected to be early in the new year.

Members of the public may attend the hearing.

If the decision allows the CPO to proceed, it is hoped that work on the project will begin in May or June next year, provided the entire site has been assembled.