3D mapping strengthens emergency planning at Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Emergency planning is an operational challenge as much as a mapping challenge. At a site as dense and complex as Blackpool Pleasure Beach, responders need to understand not only where things are, but how people, vehicles, access routes, structures and risks interact during a fast-moving incident.
A new high-resolution 3D digital model of Blackpool Pleasure Beach, created with support from Ordnance Survey, Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service and the Lancashire Local Resilience Forum, shows how geospatial data can support better preparedness and decision-making in complex public spaces.
The model covers the nearly 17-hectare attraction at the southern end of Blackpool’s Golden Mile, a site that welcomes more than five million visitors a year. With tightly packed rides, height variation, restricted access points and large visitor flows, it presents a demanding environment for emergency planners. Conventional 2D plans can show the layout, but they may not fully capture the spatial complexity responders need to understand when planning routes, staging areas or evacuation corridors.
Using drones and unmanned aerial system mapping, the project team developed a photorealistic 3D reconstruction of the site. This gives emergency services a more detailed view of the physical environment, helping them assess how responders might move through the attraction, where access could be limited and how different parts of the site connect during an incident.
For the Operational Research professional, the significance lies in how this kind of digital model can support structured decision-making. Emergency response involves uncertainty, time pressure and multiple agencies working together. A shared 3D environment can improve situational awareness, support scenario planning and help teams test response options before they are needed in practice.
The model has also been linked with wider town-scale 3D mapping from Ordnance Survey, giving planners a broader digital context beyond the attraction itself. This creates opportunities for multi-agency exercises, tabletop planning and live incident support, where teams can work from a common operational picture rather than separate interpretations of the same site.
There are clear connections with OR methods and thinking. Route planning, resource allocation, evacuation modelling, resilience planning and response coordination all depend on understanding constraints within a system. In this case, the constraints are physical, spatial and organisational: where vehicles can enter, where responders can safely operate, how crowds may move and how agencies coordinate decisions under pressure.
Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service said the project builds on more than a decade of experience using drones, with the complexity of Blackpool Pleasure Beach providing an opportunity to develop techniques for a more demanding environment. The Lancashire Local Resilience Forum has also highlighted the potential for similar technology to be applied to other sites, both for preparedness and active incident response.
Ordnance Survey’s 3D mapping has already supported real-world emergency response elsewhere in the UK, including a major evacuation in Plymouth and support for the Isle of Wight Council following a landslip. The Blackpool Pleasure Beach project adds another example of how digital mapping can move beyond visualisation and become part of the decision-support infrastructure for public safety.
For operational researchers, the project is a reminder that better data only becomes valuable when it improves decisions. In emergency planning, that means helping teams understand complex environments, explore possible scenarios and act with greater confidence when time is limited.
References
https://www.publictechnology.net/2026/05/19/communities-housing-and-planning/blackpool-pleasure-beach-mapped-in-3d-to-aid-emergency-planning/
https://www.gim-international.com/content/news/emergency-planners-map-blackpool-pleasure-beach-in-3d-for-the-first-time