Plans to transform the centre of Prestwich Village into a thriving heart of the community have been submitted to Bury Council. Prestwich Regeneration LLP – the joint venture between nationwide placemaker Muse and Bury Council – has lodged a planning application for the regeneration of the Longfield Centre site, which will feature a new market hall and village square have been unveiled.
The £100m+ project aims to transform the Longfield Centre with the regeneration plans set to include a new community hub building, including a library and flexible community space that can be used for events, clubs and art and culture. The building will also offer an opportunity to deliver a new Prestwich Health Centre, with discussions ongoing with the NHS and local GP practices.
Plus, plans feature a new market hall (including a food hall for local food operators and communal seating that spills out onto the village square), flexible retail and leisure spaces, a new gym, landscaped outdoor and green spaces. It is planned to remove the existing fountain and incorporate new public art installations throughout the development.
Adding to the community element that’s to come to Prestwich, plans include a new village square with a flexible design to provide space for pop-up events like markets, food festivals, art exhibitions and live performances. The car park in the centre of the site is set to relocate to a new multi-storey travel hub off Fairfax Road, which will contain around 350 spaces, electric vehicle charging points, cycle storage and parcel lockers.
There are also plans to include around 200 new homes in Prestwich Village. While the housing is not yet fully designed it is envisaged that there will be a mix of apartment sizes for affordable homes, first-time buyers, growing families and downsizers.
The plans also feature new energy and water efficient buildings to minimise carbon in operation, including the use of sustainable building materials to reduce upfront embodied carbon. The new buildings are also being designed to complement local architecture and celebrate Prestwich’s heritage and character.
Stuart Rogers, Director of Project Management at Muse, said: “This is a major moment for the future of Prestwich and the culmination of many months of in-depth community consultation. We’ve been blown away by the response from the local community and their passion. They had some really useful ideas and feedback, much of which we’ve been able to incorporate into the plans.
“One of the things people love about Prestwich is the many independent businesses already here and this really came through during the consultation. So, we decided to increase the amount of retail space by removing one of the residential buildings and added a larger market hall to provide smaller spaces for local retailers to thrive and grow. We’re also looking at how we can provide temporary space during construction for businesses so that the village can continue to be a bustling place for food, drink and shopping. The idea of the village square was also really popular so we’ve increased that in size and also included more green spaces and planting throughout the site.”
It is expected that a decision on the Prestwich Village regeneration plans will be made in Spring 2024 with construction starting in mid-late 2024.