One of the earliest examples of a Victorian suburb in the UK is to have its conservation status reviewed.

Fulwood Conservation Area, which covers a long stretch of Watling Street Road and Garstang Road, has special protection.

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Including the Barracks, the former Union workhouse, the Nooklands Estate and an early example of a ‘Freehold Land Society’ the area – mainly dating back to the mid-Victorian era – is filled with historic buildings.

Listed as a conservation area in 1990 the area has been protected since 1976 – but a smaller area known as the Watling Street Road Conservation Area.

It means there are stricter planning regulations for changes to buildings in the area or for anyone wanting to build in the confines of the conservation zone.

Read more: Part of a Preston primary school is now a listed building

The city council’s document outlines how the conservation area is split into five zones.

It covers the Freehold Park estate running from Watling Street Road and to the south into Higher Bank Road, Lower Bank Road and Victoria Road.

A second zone is in Highgate Avenue to the north of Watling Street Road.

Zone three is in Fulwood Hall Lane, and then the fourth is along to the Barracks itself.

A small fifth zone is Nooklands, off Garstang Road.

Council officers state on the whole the Fulwood area has retained its ‘distinctive and legible appearance of a suburban Victorian development’.

Read more: Ashton-on-Ribble conservation area to be kept

However, in recent times a number of poorly designed shopfronts have been introduced and ‘the occasional insensitive infill of gap sites have impacted negatively on the historic character and quality of the area’.

Prestonians will be asked for their views on the Fulwood Conservation Area and a consultation will go live on the city council website.

You can see the full council report on the conservation area via the council website.

What do you think of the Fulwood Conservation Area? Do you live within it? Let us know in the comments below