Prestwich: Longfield Centre regeneration plans lodged

Your Prestwich, a major project to regenerate the Longfield Centre site, aims to reshape the centre of the town and “cement Prestwich as one of the best places to live and spent time in the North-West.”

Proposals have been lodged to council planning officers by Prestwich Regeneration LLP – a joint venture between the local authority and developer Muse, who say the project will transform the village centre into "into a thriving heart of the community". 

Muse says the design for the new structure has been “shaped significantly by input from locals” following consultation.

READ MORE:  Whitefield: Investigation work at Springwater Park hit by floods

The final plans include a community hub, with a library and flexible community space, a new village square and a market hall with spaces for “local retailers to thrive and grow".

A new health centre is set to be housed at the site too.

Flexible retail and leisure spaces and more green spaces for residents to relax are also included in the plans.

Car parking will be located from the village centre to a new “travel hub” off Fairfax Road, to include electric vehicle charging points, cycle storage and parcel lockers.

Plans for 200 new homes have also been included in the proposals, which developers expect will be a mix affordable homes to homes for first time buyers, growing families and "downsizers".

Prestwich is set to be transformed under £100m plans (Image: Muse)

Director of project management at Muse, Stuart Rogers, 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.

READ MORE: Bury: New café has opened in The Range at The Rock

“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.”

Ahead of the new development, large areas of the existing Longfield Centre are set to be demolished.

The developer expects the council’s planning committee to decide on the plans this spring, with construction expected to begin later this year.