Have your say on Moor Park Conservation Area

A view across Moor Park Pic: Tony Worrall

A popular Preston park is being reassessed for its special historic interest of the area.

Moor Park, which was labelled a conservation area in February 2013, has been under the microscope of Preston City Council once again.

An updated review, the revised Moor Park Conservation Area Appraisal, has been produced, listing the areas of ‘special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance’.

Now, the city council want to hear your voice on the grade-II listed park.

A consultation period is running for four weeks and will end on Friday 31 August.

A ‘drop in’ session is being held for the public to have their say. This will take place at the Rosemary on the Park café, Moor Park on Tuesday 28 August from 10am – 12pm.

The conservation area designation contributed to the securing of Heritage Lottery Funding, which is now in Phase Two of the development project.

Restoration work has been ongoing in the park in the last 18 months Pic: Jim Beattie

The draft appraisal states: “The conservation area retains its distinctive and legible appearance of a suburban Victorian development with a consistent palette of materials, scale and form.

“The introduction of the conservation area designation in 2013 has encouraged new development to be in-keeping and that materials, scale and massing is sensitive to the existing building stock and important views in to the area. The standard of development has improved and as such positively contributed to the character of the conservation area.”

Some characteristics of the park which have been labelled as ‘special interest’ include:

It’s a Grade II* Registered Historic Park, providing green open space and is of national importance as a designated heritage asset. Awarded Green Flag Status July 2018
The built environment demonstrates varying ranks of development; from the spacious villas of the upper classes lining Garstang Road and Moor Park Avenue to the terraced houses of the lower working classes
Distinctive linear terraced streets in a uniformed grid pattern
Traditional craftsmanship embodied in original building materials
The development of the area is directly linked to Preston’s contribution to the Lancashire cotton industry in 18th and 19th centuries and in particular the impact of the Cotton Famine in the 1860’s
The fast-paced level of development and house building between 1850 and 1892 corresponds with the rise of mill building and the growth of the cotton industry in Lancashire and the Industrial Revolution in the north of England.

You can view the draft appraisal here.

What do you think? Will you be having your say? Let us know in the comments below