Bury to confirm £3.5m to kickstart Prestwich regen
The local authority’s cabinet has approved the commitment of funds granted by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to deliver designs, plan demolition, and achieve vacant possession of the Longfield site.
Demolition of Longfield shopping centre will clear the way for new-look retail units, a 6,500 sq ft market and food hall, and new leisure and community facilities.
In addition, the joint venture has plans to build up to 200 homes across three blocks, rising to seven storeys on the Longfield plot on the car park adjacent to the shopping centre.
An underwriting of £2.25m, funded initially by Muse Places on behalf of the joint venture between the developer and Bury Council, Prestwich Regeneration, is to contribute to design fees and includes a condition that a planning application must be submitted by March 2026.
A further £1m will go towards demolition costs, while the final £225,000 is to be used to achieve vacant possession, according to a council report.
A travel hub forms a key part of the regeneration and would have a capacity of 275 vehicles. Credit: via Font Comms
Bury Council purchased the seven-acre Longfield site from Hollins Murray Group in August 2021 and formed the Prestwich Regeneration joint venture in October 2021.
The scheme’s first phase – the VINCI-led construction of a 275-space travel hub – is on schedule for completion by July 2026. The travel hub will consolidate car parking facilities, formerly on surface-level car parks at Rectory Lane and Fairfax Road, into a single facility on Fairfax Road.
So another 3.5m… on top of the 100m for the joint venture with Muse.
How much did the council spend on initially purchasing the land?
So far they’ve knocked up a very ugly car park. Which the council could not even manage it and had to farm out the cost of the tickets, to a private contractor. That was £14m
But they renamed it as a travel hub. As far as I can see, no other Metrolink car parks charge customers but I could be wrong.
By Anon Manchester
@Anon, I think you misunderstand. That 3.5 million is not “on top”, it’s part of the 100 million. The amount spent so far from the council’s direct capital allocation is for the initial phases, primarily the £14 million travel hub and the recently committed £3.5 million for further development works. As for the car park being ugly, how do you know? It’s not finished yet! The previous surface car park was finished and was incredibly ugly, plus a complete waste of space. I for one are really looking forward to this development, as a local, who will use the facilities on a regular basis
By Joe
Please use some of the money to clean up Prestwich and improve some of the treacherous pavements. Bury Council seem to forget the people who actually walk into the centre of Prestwich. Prestwich doesn’t look inviting to live in at the moment which is not what prospective residents require.
By Andi
Sorry Joe, I made an assumption by adding the £3.5m and £14m. Unfortunately the council are incredibly obtuse, when it comes to releasing information about the build. I have given up on looking for information on the Bury Council website.
With regards to my interpretation of the car park. The black box is published on the Muse flyer which all residents received. The original car park was flat, surrounded by trees and greenery. Most importantly it was free.
The new one will cost people to get to Manchester/Bury via the Metro. I believe that a three storey building virtually backing onto Fairfax Road, which does appear to be a black steel frame only makes the area rather glum.
As someone who is also local and used to use the original car park, I will miss the times when I could nip into the village and spend some money locally. Other residents who live close by, will no doubt get double yellow lines outside their homes and maybe an offer to pay for the privilege of paying outside their homes.
I still haven’t been able to find out what the Council originally paid for the plot.
By Anon Manchester
@Anon In fairness, nobody knows if/how much the new car park will cost and let’s remember, it is NOT a designated metrolink park and ride and never was – for free parking for metrolink users there is large free car parks at Whitefield and Radcliffe designed for this use.
If you look at the plans and renders, you’ll see the car park will be clad in a red/brown textured mesh in keeping with the brickwork colours in the area too, certainly not left as a black steel frame but as with most construction, the exterior finishing won’t commence until the internal structural work is done.
By Anonymous