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Giant Church Street apartment block branded ‘unviable’ but deal could still be done

Posted on - 31st May, 2024 - 7:00am | Author - | Posted in - Politics, Preston City Centre, Preston News, Redevelopment
Artist impression of how the front of the new block would look facing into Church Street

Proposals to breath new life into a run down section of Church Street look set to be approved – although a wrangle over whether the scheme is even viable looks set to continue.

TAG Preston Ltd want to build 280 apartments on a stretch of buildings from the corner of Manchester Road up to the Old Dog Inn.

But Preston City Council’s planning department has raised concerns over the viability of the scheme and look set to demand assurances a contribution to off-set any need for affordable housing is made.

Read more: Five years on from the Stoneygate Masterplan and whether it will finally fix Church Street

The buildings, which would be a four-storey, eleven-storey and nineteen-storey would be built fronting Church Street, Manchester Road and Shepherd Street.

A report by developers says they plan for the whole scheme to be sold on the open market.

Under planning rules 84 of the apartments – 30 per cent – should be affordable and to remove this the developers would need to make a substantial Section 106 payment to the city council on top of a £189,409 payment to the county council to support school places. Council officers say as it stands the Church Street scheme would be unviable if either the affordable housing had to be accomodated or the payment made to offset it.

The report by council officers will recommend approved of the scheme with a ‘review point’ built in to ‘determine if a full or partial financial contribution towards affordable housing can be achieved’. If an agreement cannot be reached by the end of June the city council is recommending councillors refuse the scheme.

The site in Church Street which borders Manchester Road Pic: Blog Preston

A £6,000 ’employment skills monitoring’ payment is being demanded upfront from the developers in the case of any approval.

Five letters of support were received by the city council for the Church Street scheme.

Blog Preston approached TAG Preston Ltd for comment on the recommendation for the planning committee but they declined to comment ahead of the meeting.

Read more: See more redevelopments news from Blog Preston

Future of the Old Dog Inn?

The former Old Dog Inn – which now has plants growing from it Pic: Blog Preston

Dating back to the early 1700s, the Old Dog Inn – now closed – is not included in the redevelopment scheme and city council officers say no harm would be caused to the grade-II listed building by the new scheme next door.

A separate planning application, to convert the former pub into a restaurant and bedsits, was brought forward in September last year.

Read more: Mapped: Stoneygate Masterplan and all the potential developments

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