Fishergate Shopping Centre could be demolished

The Fishergate Shopping Centre could be completely demolished as part of plans that would see the area around the city’s railway station transformed.

It is almost two years since a blueprint emerged for a series of office, leisure, retail and residential developments across a site centred on the busy transport interchange.

The long-term vision for the location  – known as the Preston Station Quarter Regeneration Framework – referred to the full or partial redevelopment of the shopping centre, but stopped short of stating that the entire building would be bulldozed.

While it was obvious from accompanying images showing how the site would look that there major implications for the retail space – which opened in 1986 – its exact future remained unclear.

However, documents that have now been lodged with Preston City Council describe a multi-phase project that would culminate in the shopping centre being flattened to make way for “a high-rise, mixed-use development”.

The plans are made up of a total of eight new buildings – four of which would be constructed on the shopping precinct’s huge car park.

That quartet – between six and nine storeys in height – would be delivered in two stages. The second of them would require the demolition of the southern portions of the units currently occupied by TK Maxx and TJ Hughes ahead of the wider clearance of the site during later phases.

A submission made to the town hall on behalf of the Fishergate Shopping Centre’s owner – the Martin Property Group – also reveals that the first two proposed buildings would form part of a pitch for Preston to provide a 15,000 square metre “regional government office hub”, said to be “in direct response” to the requirements of the Government Property Agency.

The initial phase of development would also see the start of work to create a new public realm – described in the framework plan as a “welcome square” – and better integrate the site with its “immediate surroundings”.   The new public space would also improve links between the station and Preston’s flagship Avenham and Miller parks.

The new development would be connected directly to the station – the main access to which would be moved from Fishergate to Butler Street, where the side entrance is currently located.

The regeneration framework set out an ambition to give a complete facelift to one of the main gateways into Preston, which is considered to give a “poor first impression” to visitors in its current form.   One of the largest and most prominent premises within the centre – the former Debenhams store – remains empty almost three years after its closure.

It also aims to attract and retain new and existing businesses and public sector operations – by creating the kind of ‘grade A’ office facilities that the city is deemed to lack.

The original vision for the site was heavily pegged to the fact that high-speed trains were eventually expected to reach Preston – albeit at less than their maximum velocity – as part of the HS2 line between London and Manchester.

Politicians and business leaders in Preston expressed concern that the government decision last autumn to scrap the scheme north of Birmingham could harm the city’s station regeneration aspirations. However, the emergence of more detailed plans than have so far been published suggests the project is still on track.

Those details are contained within a request to Preston City Council for what is known as a “screening opinion” on whether the development would require an environmental impact assessment to be undertaken – something which BDP, the agents for the scheme, suggest is not necessary because of the nature of the site as it stands.

Following the authority’s decision on that matter, an outline planning application is expected to follow for the first four buildings that will make up phases one and two of the proposed development. Even the early phase plans are described as “indicative” at this stage.

A masterplan for the wider site will also be submitted, indicating what BDP describes as “the long-term vision for the Fishergate Shopping Centre”.

No timeframe has been put forward for the completion of the individual premises, but the framework envisaged the overall scheme taking shape over the course of at least a decade.