A potential move away from the home of bins in the city is being explored.
Preston City Council is undertaking feasibility studies into whether the cleansing department should remain at Argyll Road in the future.
Dating back to the 1880s the large site which borders St Paul’s Road and St George’s Road in Deepdale has always been home to Preston’s waste collections.
But in the city council’s latest budget £1million has been earmarked for a potential relocation, although it is listed as being in 2029-2030.
Cabinet member for environment and community safety, councillor Freddie Bailey, told Blog Preston during a recent interview at the depot ahead of the food waste bin collections coming in, that it was prudent to start thinking about where the best place was for any new facility.
He said: “This is a good location in terms of being centrally located and for easy access to the parks and other services which are located here.
“But we have to look to the future and this depot is very old and with any new council set up whether having such a centrally located facility is the right thing.
“No decisions have been made yet and we’re carrying out a feasibility study to look at any potential new sites in comparison to the current set up here at Argyll Road and with an eye on what might be needed in a new unitary authority.”
The city council will cease to exist in 2028 when on the current timeline it will fold into a larger unitary authority – which would have responsibilities across a wider geography. Preston’s current preference is to merge with Lancaster and Ribble Valley to create a ‘Northern Lancashire’ authority. The government has been consulting on the proposals and is due to make an announcement in the summer – bin collections would be provided across the wider unitary authority area.
Argyll Road itself has a number of examples of Victorian architecture on the site – with former stables and tipping areas. It is a popular part of the annual Heritage Open Days where people get the chance to see behind the scenes and learn about Preston’s bin collection history.
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