Preston's Tithebarn scheme gets thumbs-up

7:30am Sunday 17th August 2008

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More than 80 per cent of Prestonians believe that the £700m Tithebarn regeneration will attract more people to the city, according to the results of an extensive public consultation.

The Preston Tithebarn Information Centre, set up to showcase the proposals, attracted over 2,170 visitors with over 800 written responses made during the public exhibition period in May and June 2008.

Additionally, the Preston Tithebarn website received over 450 hits.

And now, the Preston Tithebarn Partnership, a joint venture between developers Grosvenor and Lend Lease, is more optimistic than ever about the city’s future as the results signal that the proposals would attract more people and investment into Preston.

The consultation revealed that 81 per cent of respondents believe that Preston Tithebarn will encourage more people to visit the city, 78 per cent feel that Preston Tithebarn will elevate the status of Preston in the North West and 74 per cent said that Preston Tithebarn would make Preston their first choice for shopping.

Anthony Gill, from the Preston Tithebarn Partnership, said: “The responses have been extremely interesting and encouraging. We have put a lot of time and energy into communicating with people about the plans and we now understand in more detail exactly what Prestonians want for the future of their city. The process has meant that we can refine our proposal to make it even more relevant.

“Views on Preston Bus Station were very interesting because whilst a number of people are keen to retain the current bus station, many acknowledged that it is difficult to get to and it feels unsafe, especially after dark. The designs for the new bus interchange are more open, with no steps or underpasses, so it will be easily accessible, more secure and clearly what the people want.”

He added that a planning application is currently being prepared, shaped by feedback received during the consultation process.

Anyone still wanting to view the plans, or make comments on the scheme, can do so by logging onto www.prestontithebarn.com