Posted by 
Frustration over decaying listed buildings, stonewalling by building owners and the city not making the most of its history were all discussed as individuals and organisations with a foot in the past came together to try and plot a future.
Heritage enthusiast and former history teacher, Rachael Bryson, set up the Preserving Preston’s Heritage group spurred on by the embers of the Church Street and St Joseph’s Orphanage fires.
More than 50 people attended a public meeting in the Central Methodist Church in Lune Street, Preston city centre, during Monday (27 January).
Read more: See more about redevelopment in and around Preston
They heard, and grilled, senior councillors on what was being done to try and preserve the city’s historic buildings and plotted a way forward to establish some kind of civic history trust for the city to lobby, campaign and potentially securing funding for restoring heritage buildings.
Rachael said: “I’m someone who cares deeply about history and heritage. I as many people were was saddened by what I saw unfolding in November and I wanted to do something about it.
“Since our first meeting in December and establishing the Facebook group I’ve had so many people get in touch and say they feel the same way.
“It is heartening to see so many people here tonight, and to have councillors come and give updates and answer questions is progress.
“We have a lot to do and it’s clear even though perhaps the shine might be taken off Preston at the moment, there’s a deep passion for the city and its history and we all love it anyway.”
The public meeting heard an update from councillor Valerie Wise, cabinet member for community wealth building who also has city regeneration in her portfolio. Responsibility for the protection of listed buildings sits jointly across her and the portfolio of cabinet member for planning and regulation councillor Amber Afzal.
Cllr Wise said: “We want to learn lessons from the fires which took place in November. No one wants to see those repeated.
“We have been contacting all the owners of listed buildings in the city to encourage them to properly secure their premises and meet with us about the future for them.
“To date, just one property owner has responded to us and arranged to meet.
“We’re looking now at enforcement actions we can potentially take, there’s a range of options available to us and we have to be careful about which route we go down. But we do have those powers, and we will use them – especially with a number of buildings which are now in a very dangerous state.”
One lady attending, Jane, who had been involved in a community effort to try and buy the former Harris Institute in Avenham Lane expressed her concern about the state of some of the buildings.
She said: “I was involved two years ago and the building was a state then. I really worry now, since the discovery of the cannabis farm, roof damage, flooding and more – just what some of these buildings are like.”
Jeremy Rowlands, who owns and has redeveloped pubs in the city, urged the city council to take a look at the former Old Dog Inn at Church Street.
He said: “You can see very clearly the roof has come off it, and that wasn’t kids doing that. Anyone could climb in there.”
The Old Dog, the Harris Institute, Edith Rigby House, Arkwright House, the former Tithebarn pub and the parkkeepers cottages in Avenham and Miller Park and Haslam Park were all raised as buildings of concern by those attending.
Pushed on action being taken, Cllr Wise and other councillors did not rule out undertaking compulsory purchase orders if property owners and developers continued to ignore the requirement to secure and maintain buildings. Although in the case of the Tithebarn pub – the building its in city council ownership.
Cllr Wise said an update would be coming soon on the former St Joseph’s Orphanage where demolition work was due to take place on fire-damaged buildings – but was delayed after asbestos was found. The developers, Zimrock, blamed the Health and Safety Executive for the delays – as Mount Street remains closed to traffic ever since the fire in November as a result.
The attraction of empty buildings being a magnet for anti-social behaviour and urban explorers was raised – with people describing individuals ‘going down drainpipes to access them’.
While other individuals present spoke of how many buildings were easily accessible due to being left unsecured.
There were calls made, by Dan Crowther who is behind the Restoring Preston Basin campaign, for the city council’s ‘task force’ to have a dedicated hotline which people could report concerns about listed buildings or unsafe buildings to.
Glenn Cookson, who led the campaign to restore the Old Tram Bridge crossing, said it was important to separate young people exploring buildings and wilful neglect by owners.
He said: “It’s easy to scapegoat young people and say sites should be more secure, but that shouldn’t detract from the responsibilities individual owners have for the upkeep of listed buildings.
“We need to get all this potential support in the room together to find a way forward – as we did with the Old Tram Bridge and initially people were not talking, but then they did, and we found a way to get funding and make it happen.”
More than 10 city councillors attended the meeting – with representatives from the city’s Labour and Liberal Democrat groups, including city council leader councillor Matthew Brown.
Cllr Brown indicated the city council would likely take forward a proposal – put forward by heritage campaigners – to establish a ‘champion’ role for heritage and history in the same way the council has a councillor champion for armed forces and other groups and interests.
Although not a cabinet position, the role works to bring together groups and individuals on that subject and work closely with relevant council officers.
He also committed to looking at whether more planning officer time could be dedicated to heritage buildings.
Concerns were also raised about how Preston was falling behind other cities in showcasing its heritage and history.
Paul Yates, who runs Winckley Street Ale House, said he was disappointed at how little the city talked itself up when it came to history – something shared by many at the meeting.
He said: “We’ve got some great parks, some great buildings, all these things which people in this room have mentioned as having happened in Preston.
“And yet, if you go to Lancaster, Chester, Bath, even Bolton, you’re tripping over yourself for how loudly they shout about the history and heritage they have. What do we have? Some small signs on things.”
Representatives at the meeting included many people from across various historical groups in the city or society of ‘Friends Of’ groups who are focused on specific buildings or areas of the city.
Rachael said: “We are now going to look at establishing some kind of Civic Trust.
“We don’t know yet exactly how this will work and what form it will take, but I think it’s important we take what’s come from this campaign group and look to formalise it so there is an organisation which can take the fight to keep and promote our city’s history forward.”
How you can get involved in the Preserving Preston’s Heritage campaign
The Facebook group is open for anyone to join and anyone interested in getting involved can contact Rachael Bryson for more information.
Interested in the city’s history?
From firsts involving gas lamps to being the birthplace of the Temperance movement, there’s hidden history everywhere you turn in the city – we even had the last battle on English soil. Dive into Blog Preston’s history section and discover more, and also take a look at the Preston History website.
The Preston Past and Present and Preston History Facebook groups are regularly full of interesting posts and tid-bits about the city. And the Preston Digital Archive is a fascinating photo resource.
Once back open, the Harris Museum and Art Gallery also has a community library and many historical records about the city. And the Lancashire Archives in Bow Lane regularly holds events and contains all kinds of records about the city.
Subscribe: Keep in touch directly with the latest headlines from Blog Preston, join our WhatsApp channel and subscribe for our twice-a-week email newsletter. Both free and direct to your phone and inbox.
Read more: See the latest Preston news and headlines
