Preston primed to permit 165 homes

The city council is set to sign off three large projects at its planning committee meeting on Thursday, including the residential conversion of the former Preston Catholic College’s sixth form centre.

Also on Preston City Council’s agenda are Community Gateway Association’s returning plans to build 58 homes off Tabley Lane, as well as Wain Homes and Liberty Care Developments’ proposals for a 72-bedroom care home off Sandy Lane.

Residents would have access to a roof garden. Credit: via planning documents

Winckley Square

Application number: 06/2023/0124

Branco Winckley Square wants to demolish one of two remaining parts of the former Preston Catholic College to make way for 35 flats off Mount Street.

Designed by Studio John Bridge, the scheme would see the grammar school’s 7,000 sq ft sixth form centre bulldozed and replaced with a five- to seven-storey apartment block.

There would be 27 one- and eight two-bedroom homes, several of which would benefit from their own roof terrace or balcony.

Proposals also feature a 500 sq ft gym and 100 sq ft of co-working space, along with a shared roof garden.

The former sixth form centre is currently used as a canteen building, joined to an office building through a linked footbridge. The footbridge would also be demolished under the proposals.

Opened in 1865, the college has a rich history with ex-pupils including footballer Mark Lawrenson and Beano cartoonist Leo Baxendale. Gateley Smithers Purslow provided the heritage statement for the site.

Plans for the school’s redevelopment were submitted in February.

The project’s developer, Branco Winckley Square, is a subsidiary of Branco Capital and already owns a 40,000 sq ft office building in the area.

If approved, the flats would join more than 200 residences already built in Winckley Square alone as part of the city council’s City Living Strategy to build more quality homes in the city centre.

Smith and Love is the scheme’s planning consultant. BWB is providing the flood risk assessment and drainage strategy, while MJM is advising on transport.

The 38,500 sq ft facility would provide 72 beds. Credit: via planning documents

Land at Sandy Lane

Application number: 06/2023/0599

Liberty Care Developments and Wain Homes are seeking reserved matters approval to deliver a 72-bedroom care home, made up of four connecting blocks off Sandy Lane.

C Squared Architects designed the scheme, which would see the construction of the 38,500 sq ft complex surrounded by 19,500 sq ft of community gardens.

Designed to provide specialist dementia care and 24-hour elderly nursing, the care facility would also provide residents with a tearoom, an activity room, a cinema room, and a hair salon.

There would be 28 car parking spaces, including three accessible and four electric vehicle charging bays.

Outline permission was granted for the project in January 2021 to create flexible floorspace, drinking establishments, hot food takeaways, a medical centre, a pub and hotel, and a care home on a wider six-acre site.

The developers are only moving forward with the care home and retail space, which will be the subject of a separate reserved matters application.

Plans were submitted in June and form part of a wider development area known as the North West Preston Strategic Location, which proposes around 5,500 homes on an 800-acre plot.

The one-acre plot is currently being used as a site compound for Wain Homes’ creation of 230 homes there.

JLL is the planning consultant for the scheme. Also on the project team is transport consultant Cameron Rose Associates, landscape architect Landstruction, and engineering and environmental consultant BWB Consulting.

Tabley Lane

Application number: 06/2021/1226

Community Gateway Association’s plans to build 58 residences off Tabley Lane will return to Preston City Council’s planning committee on Thursday, two years after it was first considered.

The Levitt Bernstein-designed scheme would feature 12 apartments, as well as two two-, 11 three-, and seven four-bedroom houses. The remaining 26 plots would be reserved for custom-build housing.

Currently agricultural land, the site is allocated for housing under Preston’s local plan and benefits from outline permission for up to 58 homes, which was granted in December 2018.

Plans form Parcel A part of a wider scheme. Community Gateway was granted planning permission to deliver 175 homes on the adjacent Parcel B in December 2021.

The proposals for Parcel A were first considered by the planning committee in December 2021, and again in November 2022 due to a financial error in the original report.

The application was recommended for approval both times, subject to a Section 106 agreement securing a financial contribution towards the East-West Link Road, the provision of on-site affordable housing, and the future management and maintenance of the public open space.

In August, the developer approached the local planning authority due to difficulties in securing the S106 provisions and suggested that planning permission be granted before the agreement is signed, with an additional condition preventing any development from taking place until it is completed.

The development is recommended for approval on Thursday.

PWA Planning is the scheme’s planning consultant. The project team also includes Amenity Tree Care, Powers, SCP, and Hepworth Acoustics.