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An ambitious idea for how a former canal basin underneath a Preston city centre retail park could be developed has seen new drawings revealed.
The Restoring Preston Basin campaign launched last year and focuses on a patch of land next to Ringway and Corporation Street which houses the mini retail park where Aldi used to be.
Led by Daniel Crowther the campaign group has partnered with designers Create Streets to produce some artistic drawings for how the area could become a mix of new buildings alongside a haven for wildlife.
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Mr Crowther told Blog Preston: “It’s very much a vision at this stage but one I hope people and organisations will see and think ‘yes, we can do something with this’
“There’s a lot of heritage there which is hidden from the naked eye. Unlike say empty buildings in the city centre which people walk by all the time you’d have no idea the canal was once thriving and came as close to the city centre.
“If you look at how other towns and cities are using these former canal heads then there’s a chance for the Preston Basin to be incorporated into how Preston’s redevelopment is progressing.”
The Preston Basin drawings come as Preston City Council recently unveiled their ‘Preston 2035’ strategy which includes references to major redevelopment of the area between the city’s railway station and the university campus.
Chair of Create Streets, Nicholas Boys Smith MBE, said: “In the post-COVID, zoom economy the places that thrive will be the places in which people wish to live, work, meet others, raise families and pass their time. Most of us need to tell stories about ourselves and the places we inhabit and so the most successful places are not just green and beautiful but also in communion with their past so as to be able more confidently to look to the future.
“The Restoring Preston Basin campaign and concept is a marvellous vision to breathe fresh life into Preston, proud of its past and moving into a green and sustainable future. I pray that the city council and landowners have the confidence and imagination to adopt them.”
The retail park – which now has two of its units empty with the departure of Aldi – is operated by the M7 Real Estate group. The retail park group has not been approached about the Basin campaign.
Read more: See more redevelopment news in and around Preston
Mr Crowther says his campaign and idea have no financial backing at this stage.
He said: “Of course lots of people ask me about that, and yes it’s a significant scheme. We don’t have any finance but I don’t think that should stop ideas coming forward especially at this time.
“If you look at the Lancaster Canal and the other ends which have former basins, then in Cumbria the Kendal canal head has been preserved by the council there for future redevelopment and down at the Walton Summit basin that’s become a park there and sports pitches.
“What we’re hoping to do is show what could happen, and there’s so many different uses for the buildings which could be built on the site and benefit from being in that canal basin setting.”
The proposals do not include reinstating any stretch of the canal, but do make reference to excavating to the canal basin and restoring some of this to wildlife habitat.
Mr Crowther is going to present his idea as part of a series of talks put on by the Preston Historical Society.
Titled as Restoring Preston Basin: from coal carrier to carbon store? it takes place at the Central Methodist Church in Lune Street on Monday 9 September from 7.15pm and is £5 to attend. Booking is requested via the PHS website.
More information about the Preston Basin campaign is available on the campaign group’s website.
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