Partners forge ahead with £100m Prestwich regen
Muse and Bury Council are progressing plans to create a “new beating heart” for the Bury town, unveiling fresh images of how the scheme could look and launching another round of public consultation.
The £100m Prestwich project will see a chunk of the town centre redeveloped, providing a 37,000 sq ft community centre, 200 homes, and a 350-space mobility hub.
Muse and Bury, which formed a joint venture for the project in 2021, are seeking more views from local stakeholders to shape how the plans are developed.
A second round of consultation will run for the next four weeks as the partners hope to build on the high level of engagement they have experienced to date.
“We had a brilliant response to our first conversation on regenerating Prestwich Village with nearly 900 people submitting questionnaires and hundreds of residents attending our online and in-person events,” said Stuart Rogers, project director at Muse.
“The local community is really passionate about the future of the site and shared loads of great ideas and feedback. This has been fundamental in helping us to work up detailed plans for our vision to create a new beating heart for Prestwich that appeals to everyone.”
Rogers added: “At Muse, our approach to placemaking is to work closely with local communities and use their knowledge and insight to help us make people-centred places that leave a long-lasting, positive legacy.”
Muse and the council have also released updated CGIs of the scheme, depicting how the scheme, designed by Jon Matthews Architects and Planit-IE, could look. A planning application for the two-phase project is expected to be submitted before the end of the year.
The project features around 200 homes. Credit: Virtual Planit
Phase one concerns two sites, the Longfield Centre and a surface car park off Fairfax Road.
It is proposed that a multi-storey mobility hub would be delivered on the existing car park.
Meanwhile, the Longfield Centre will be demolished to make way for several modern facilities. These include:
- A 37,000 sq ft community hub – this would include a library, events space, and health centre
- A 25,000 sq ft retail and leisure building – ground floor units from 1,000 sq ft to 2,500 sq ft and space for a gym or offices on the first floor
- Market hall – a modern 10,000 sq ft space to house food and goods traders
- A village square linking the built elements of phase one.
Phase two would comprise the residential element of the project and see the delivery of three blocks on land to the rear of the Longfield Centre that is currently used for car parking and by Prestwich Health Centre.
The homes would provide a mix of apartment sizes for affordable homes, first-time buyers, growing families, and downsizers, according to the project partners.
Cllr Eamonn O’Brien, Leader of Bury Council, said: “These are truly transformational plans, bringing together housing, leisure, health and business opportunities to the heart of Prestwich.
“I’m delighted that so many people have already got involved and commented on the proposals. I urge everyone to play their part in ensuring that these developments will make Prestwich thrive for many generations to come.”
Can’t wait for this project to finally come to fruition.
By MacDopel
Nice to see Prestwichers getting something back. They pay enough in.
By Elephant
What is the actual timescale for a completed scheme?
By Oliver Queen
Sounds promising on the homes. The last thing we want is units being hoovered up by eastern investors (or local investors for the matter).
By Cyril
Currently there are 700 well subscribed free parking spaces that support personnel, customers, healthcare visitors etc. Perhaps I am just being miserable in wondering what a 350-space mobility hub means in practice, ie not free, and quite pointedly not referred to as a car park. I mean yes, a much greater density of housing is good for any parties building them or collecting council tax, but is a high-rise town centre really what we need?
By Desmond
Manchester seems obsessed with “food halls” at the moment. Is there enough demand to sustain them in suburbs like Prestwich though? I’m not sure and worry about it becoming a white elephant.
By McGinno
There will be a massive lack of shopping facilities, banking and leisure whilst the Longfield is under demolition and replacement. Prestwich will die.
By Michael Bones
@McGinno, why wouldn’t there be enough demand for this? For a start, I’m pretty sure the planners have done assessments. But even then it’s clear these things work and are popular. Also, just because there are similar markets in the city centre or Altrincham doesn’t mean anything in relation to Prestwich. This will serve an area that doesn’t have a food market. People don’t go into the city to go to Mackie Mayor, they go into the city and when there they may visit Mackie Mayor, This will serve the local community, people living in Prestwich who can stroll to their own market
By EOD
Re: Manchester seems obsessed with “food halls” at the moment
September 07, 2023 at 7:47 am By McGinno
Most towns and cities across the country seem obsessed with foodhalls!
By Drew
Prestwichers pay enough in Elephant? They pay nothing at all in for Heaton Park, that lovely free gift from the Council Tax payers of Manchester… More practically, not sure that’s a like-for-like replacement for the mostly occupied retail space to be lost, notwithstanding the vague “Market Hall” and while the existing surface car park is a poor gateway from Metrolink, it is very well used by shoppers and as a park and ride. Can see people just popping into Tesco instead during the day.
By Anonymous
@desmond – demand for car parking is an expression of available capacity. If you provide for cars they will come so I would suggest that the fact that these spaces are well used is not reflective of the actual operational needs of Prestwich centre. In my view as a local resident, the existing surface car park adjacent to the Longfield is an inefficient use of space in a prime location.
I would also question how many of the spaces are being used by visitors to Prestwich centre. I understand this is being confirmed through the evidence being prepared in support of the planning application, but my suspicision is it is being used heavily as an unoffical park and ride facility for the metrolink station which does not directly benefit the village centre.
As above, the development is located adjacent to a Metrolink station and a busy bus route, there are plenty of alternatives to driving and for those that do have to drive, there will be sufficient provision.
By Change is good
Providing car parking costs a lot of money and can be the difference between a development being viable and not being viable. It’s too high a price to pay simply to cater to people who are too lazy to cycle and think they are too special to take public transport. More and more new developments are increasingly providing only blue badge spaces – good riddance to cars in our cities I say.
By Anonymous
@EOD it’s not just Mackie Mayer and Altrincham is it? The concept of multiple “street food” vendors under one roof (or carpark!) is all over the place – New Century hall, Grub, Freight Island, Stockport and even Radcliffe!
The recent closure of Hatch on Oxford Road should make us ask questions about whether this model is sustainable or not. My guess is that it isn’t and many more will close. If not for monetary reasons, but due to changes in fashion. I don’t like the idea of Prestwich jumping on the bandwagon right at the end of the craze. Let’s have our own identity.
By McGinno
I think it is wonderful that the plans for the regeneration of Prestwich are moving forward. The long awaited plans for a community hub, a market hall and new housing will be great additions to the area.
By Anonymous
The development looks great and would bring more life in that part of Manchester. The site has great potential with perfect links and at it’s current state it is a missed opportunity. The proposal provides good opportunity for a public square that can be used for variety of events like the treacle market in Macclesfield and Christmas Markets.
As for the food hall concept – it is proving successful in several locations across the UK (not just up north) and it is not something alien – don’t know why people obsess over the concept being a ‘white elephant’. It’s good place to go in any weather.
As for Hatch @McGinno – it is not closing it is just changing hands – https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/bruntwood-sells-hatch-to-stack/
By Anonymous
Anonymous 1.03pm. They pay nothing for Heaton Park but they pay to clean up the mess it creates outside, whilst Manchester takes the profits from every event.
By Elephant
Looks and sounds just what is needed to create new interests.
Believe it would really encourage more people to want to join in the great environment .
By Jon Best
The last thing prestwich center needs are three seven storey blocks of apartments what happened to the promise that the apartment blocks would be in keeping to the area just another case of bury council riding roughshod over prestwich.
By Prestwich Resident