The future of Preston Bus Station still hangs on a knife-edge after councillors voted to reject a bid to keep it from local businessmen.
Simon Rigby’s offer to buy the Bus Station building and redevelop it was deemed not to be a sustainable option by the Preston City Council cabinet.
In a unanimous decision the cabinet rejected the Rigby offer as there was no guarantee of future sustainability of a bus station on the site to service the people of Preston after or during the 10 year plan that had been offered.
The cabinet was reminded that the cost of a full refurbishment of the bus station to bring it up to modern standards was unaffordable, the costings of which were confirmed by the recent report by The Tom Lucas Partnership who reviewed the ‘Rough Order of Cost Estimate’ prepared by Jacobs UK Ltd last year.
Council Leader Peter Rankin admitted that even after all the extra publicity for the bus station he had not received any serious offers from investors or developers willing to take on the building.
The cabinet agreed that the next step was full consultation with Lancashire County Council who have set aside at least £8.3m for redevelopment of the site.
Last night the building featured on the BBC’s Culture Show which praised it as a masterpiece of modern architecture – and the building could still be listed by English Heritage as a third application is ongoing through the system.
The cabinet voted in favour of a recommendation by officers to demolish the building and build a smaller bus station and car park on the site.
You can view the full council decision on the council website where the Rigby proposal was scored against moving to transfer the ownership of the site to Lancashire County Council over time.
What do you make of the decision? What should the council do with the Bus Station? Let us know in the comments below