We kick-started 2024 by submitting plans to transform the centre of Prestwich Village into a thriving heart of the community. As the nights get lighter and spring arrives, what happens next?
A hybrid planning application for regeneration of the Longfield Centre site was validated by Bury Council in February, with all of the detailed planning documents posted online. (You can find all of the info here).
The submission was the culmination of months of extensive design and technical work to come up with a proposal that delivers for Prestwich, for those that call the village home, as well as those that work here or simply love to visit.
What’s included in the submitted application?
The submitted plans were shaped significantly by input from locals following two stages of consultation. Take a look here at how valuable feedback helped inform plans for the village as they evolved.
To recap, the application seeks permission to deliver:
A community hub
Including a library and flexible community space. The building will also offer an opportunity to deliver a new Prestwich Health Centre, with discussions ongoing with the NHS and local GP practices. This will be a modern, flexible and fit-for-purpose space.
A new village square
Including family-friendly social places for all the community to meet and relax. The square (the size of around four standard swimming pools) has been flexibly designed so it provides space for pop-up events like markets, food festivals, art exhibitions and live performances.
A market hall
Providing smaller, high-quality spaces for local retailers to thrive and grow. This includes a food hall for food operators and communal seating that spills out onto the village square.
Flexible retail and leisure spaces across the site
It is proposed to deliver approximately 2,950 sq. m of modern ground floor retail spaces for a variety of uses, which is a similar amount as the existing ground floor retail space. Providing diverse, contemporary spaces within a revitalised centre will help complement the existing high street and provide future occupiers with real choice.
Landscaped outdoor and green spaces
Including trees and places to wander, relax and sit. The existing fountain will be removed and new public art installations will be incorporated throughout the development. The arrival experience into Prestwich by tram will also be enhanced, with landscaping that connects with green spaces in the village.
New parking and transport arrangements
It is proposed to deliver a new travel hub off Fairfax Road, featuring electric vehicle charging points, extensive cycle parking and storage and parcel lockers. Overall, the development would feature over 300 car parking spaces (since further increased), including accessible spaces next to the Community Hub. Elsewhere, improvements would be made to Rectory Lane, including traffic calming measures to improve safety. It would however remain open to two-way traffic.
Around 200 new homes
It is envisaged this will include a mix of types of homes, from affordable homes to those for first-time buyers, growing families and downsizers. It is important to note that this forms part of the outline planning application – which seeks to agree the principle of building new homes at the site. However the size, design, materials and style will all follow at a later date in a detailed planning application – known as a Reserved Matters Application.
Latest design updates
Since the submission, we’ve made small tweaks to the over design, with updated drawings and plans submitted to the council. The main changes are to the internal design of the proposed travel hub on Fairfax Road to increase efficient use of the space. In practice, this means:
• A more efficient arrangement inside the building, meaning the number of parking spaces can be increased from 275 to 301
• The distance between the building and neighbouring properties at Highfield Place has been increased by just over a metre
• Changes to the façade as a result of improved natural ventilation
The quality of materials, height and massing of the travel hub remains the same.
The changes mean the overall number of parking spaces being proposed has increased by 26, from 316 to 342.
What’s happened since the submission and where can I find out more?
Since the plans were submitted, the Local Planning Authority carried out its statutory consultation process on the submitted proposals. This period allowed members of the public and organisations (known as statutory consultees) to make comments on the application.
As a result of the recent changes, a further period of such consultation will be carried out between 23 May 2024 and 06 June 2024 on the updated plans.
Once this consultation closes, the Local Planning Authority will consider all the comments received. Where necessary, we (the Joint Venture applicant) will respond to any areas that they feel need addressing or further clarification.
All of the detailed documents can be found here on the council’s website, but we appreciate that the documents are lengthy and in places very technical. You can check out our updated Frequently Asked Questions, where we’ve answered many of the common questions about what’s planned.
What happens next?
The plans will be determined by Bury Council, with a decision likely to be made by the Council’s Planning Committee this summer. This could be as early as the start of July
Assuming the plans are approved, it’s intended for the travel hub to be the first phase to be delivered. This approach will provide a long-term parking solution for the Village, delivering new parking spaces, cycle storage and EV charging points. It’s the target for work to begin on this by the end of 2024.
Delivering the new travel hub first will mean, once completed, the existing Longfield Centre surface car park can then be used to facilitate the delivery of the village masterplan. It will be used as a construction compound and laydown area, as work starts to dismantle the precinct buildings and build the new community hub, retail spaces, outdoor spaces and new homes.
The Council is continuing to speak with businesses currently located at the Longfield Centre. The phased approach – with delivery of the travel hub first in advance of the demolition of the Longfield Centre – means that businesses have been offered the opportunity to stay in the existing units until Summer 2025.
We are also looking at the potential to provide temporary spaces in the village for some existing retailers during construction so that the village can continue to be a bustling place for food, drink and shopping whilst work on site takes place.
How do I stay in the loop?
The best way to stay up to date on all things Your Prestwich is to follow us on social media, whether Facebook or Instagram.
Keep your eyes peeled to our social channels and website too over the coming weeks and months, where we’ll look at different aspects of the plans and our key considerations when mapping out the next chapter for Prestwich village.
If you need to contact our team, you can do so via email to: info@yourprestwich.com or by calling Freephone 0800 6891095 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5.30pm).