'Tired' Preston shopping centre demolition approved
The blueprint will see St. John’s Shopping Centre demolished and replaced with a trio of new high-rise buildings
A “tired” Preston shopping precinct is set to make way for an “ambitious” new residential, retail and healthcare development, after a major regeneration plan was given the go-ahead by councillors.
The blueprint will see St. John’s Shopping Centre demolished and replaced with a trio of new high-rise buildings across the cleared site and an adjoining plot.
The firm behind the redevelopment – opposite the bus station – is promising to create what it described to a meeting of Preston City Council’s planning committee as a “high-quality gateway” into the city centre.
The new landmark structures – which will range from 11 to 16 storeys in height – were unanimously approved by committee members. They feature almost 500 apartments, as well commercial units and an NHS neighbourhood health facility.
A tree-lined ‘central boulevard’ will weave its way between two of the blocks on the levelled St. John’s site, connecting the transport facility on Tithebarn Street to the markets quarter and new Animate cinema, restaurant and leisure development off Lancaster Road.
It will include a new public square and green walkways with spaces to relax and socialise, as well as acting as a thoroughfare between key city sites.
Considering the proposal in the town hall – just yards from the spot that their decision had the potential to transform – the committee heard it suggested by both council planners and the project’s backers that St. John’s, which opened in 1965, had seen better days.
Planning officer Patrick Marfleet said it was a “typical post-war…shopping centre”, with “no historic value”.
He added that it was now in “a pretty tired and…half-empty state these days” – and that the local authority had “no objection to its loss”. In contrast, Mr. Marfleet said the facilities that would replace it represented a “very important…regeneration opportunity within the city centre”.
Presenting the proposal on behalf of applicant Wansfell Ltd, Chris Hartley, the agent for the application, said: “For many visitors arriving by bus in Preston city centre, this location forms their very first impression of the city.
“Today, that impression is shaped by an outdated retail centre which does not fully serve the needs of Preston’s residents, businesses or visitors.
“The plan before you offers an ambitious alternative which will directly support Preston’s city-living strategy by meeting local housing needs in a sustainable city centre location.”
St. John’s is currently home to around 20 retailers offering mostly everyday essentials – and its own website promotes it as “the perfect place to grab a bargain”.
Mr. Hartley said the redeveloped site – backed by one the country’s major shopping centre owners, Praxis Real Estate Management Ltd. – would offer a “more consolidated retail and food and beverage offer” which would complement the nearby Animate.
That scheme – which opened just over a year ago and was developed by the city council – was an example of the “fantastic public sector regeneration” in Preston which the new vision for St. John’s sought to support, he added.
The committee heard that the “vibrant new public square” would “create linkages” between the markets and bus station.
“This is place-making in its truest sense and will create a high-quality gateway into the city centre,” Mr. Hartley added.
One of the three new blocks – on the northern corner of Old Vicarage and Tithebarn Street – already has planning permission after originally being proposed as a standalone scheme for the redevelopment of a building occupied by a succession of nightclubs down the decades: including Piper, Barristers, Lord Byron’s Storm and Club Arena.
Partick Marfleet stressed that the outline permission being requested for the development meant that the imagery accompanying the proposal was only “indicative” at this stage – but helped to “paint a useful picture” of how the site could take shape.
The need for a more detailed final proposal – and the further permission that will require – was one of the reasons Chris Hartley cautioned that there would be “no immediate commencement” of construction work.
Even once a follow-up, so-called ‘reserved matters’ application was approved, the applicant is likely then to seek a “development partner” to deliver the scheme, councillors were told.
Meanwhile, the meeting heard the authority had accepted an argument made by the applicant that the scheme would not be financially viable if it was forced to deliver the 30 percent quota of discounted ‘affordable homes’ that Preston planning policy would usually require – nor the up to £3.5m contribution to new school places being demanded by Lancashire County Council. The project becomes the latest in a series of high-rise Preston city centre developments to be granted such an exemption.
The proposal – which will generate over £13m in new tax revenue, including around £1m in council tax – prompted little debate amongst committee members.
Partick Marfleet said the buildings were not considered to be “out-of-scale or over-dominant”. They will stand in close proximity to other high-rises like Bishopgate Gardens, the Guild Tower and the Unicentre, a report to the committee noted.
However, committee member Michael Peak did question the ratio of just 23 poised car parking spaces to almost 500 residential properties.
“That’s good,” Mr. Marfleet said of the limited parking capacity, noting that the site was “in the city centre, next to the bus station and within walking distance of the train station”..
However, Cllr Peak said the figure was “a joke”, warning that “people will have cars”.
PUTTING HEALTH AT THE HEART OF THE CITY
The committee heard that the NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) had thrown its weight behind the idea of creating a healthcare facility within the tallest of the three buildings, writing a letter in support of the plans.
Chris Hartley said it would be “a major investment in local healthcare provision, bringing services closer to residents”.
He added that it “aligns with the government’s 10-year health plan to prioritise making healthcare available on people’s doorsteps”.
“It is difficult to overstate the value of this facility to Preston’s long-term wellbeing,” Mr. Hartley said.
However, there are so far few specifics about the kind of services that could be on offer and, as the Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed last year, whilst plans for a Preston health hub are believed to be in the early stages of development by the NHS, a detailed appraisal of all potential sites for such a facility would have to be undertaken before one was chosen.
On the redeveloped St. John’s site, that facility would span either two or four floors of the centrally-located building, depending on the health service’s requirements. In the latter scenario, 34 apartments would be dropped from the scheme in order to make room for what would be a 4,500-square metre NHS operation, including offices.
The idea of a ‘health hub’ somewhere in Preston was floated by the NHS in 2024 after the preferred site for the since-delayed new Royal Preston Hospital was announced as being in Farington, close to the M6 in South Ribble.
It has also long been an ambition of the ruling Labour group on Preston City Council to see a health centre opened in a central city location. Such a project was considered – although ultimately not progressed – as part of the authority’s successful bid for £20m of levelling up cash from the government back in 2022.
After the new hospital site announcement, council leader Matthew Brown said it was more necessary than ever, while Preston MP Sir Mark Hendrick also made the case for some ‘acute’ services to be located in the city centre.