Plans to transform the centre of Prestwich Village into a thriving heart of the community have been submitted to Bury Council.

Prestwich Regeneration LLP – the joint venture between nationwide placemaker Muse and Bury Council – has lodged a planning application for the £100m+ regeneration of the Longfield Centre site.

The ambitious plans are set to cement Prestwich as one of the best places to live and spend time in the North West.

Final plans

The design has been shaped significantly by input from locals following two stages of consultation, with the final plans including:

• A community hub including a library and flexible community space that can be used for events, clubs and art and culture. The building will also offer an opportunity to deliver a new Prestwich Health Centre, with discussions ongoing with the NHS and local GP practices.

• A new village square with family-friendly social places for all the community to meet and relax, which has been flexibly designed so it provides space for pop-up events like markets, food festivals, art exhibitions and live performances.
• A market hall providing smaller spaces for local retailers to thrive and grow. This includes a food hall for local food operators and communal seating that spills out onto the village square.
• Flexible retail and leisure spaces across the site, which will complement the high street and help to cater for Prestwich’s diverse business community. This includes a new gym.
• Landscaped outdoor and green spaces, trees and places to wander, relax and sit. The existing fountain will be removed and new public art installations will be incorporated throughout the development.
• Enhancing the Prestwich arrival experience from the tram by delivering landscaping which connects with green spaces in the village.
• Relocating car parking in the centre of the site to a new travel hub off Fairfax Road, which will contain electric vehicle charging points, cycle storage and parcel lockers.
• Around 200 new homes, which forms part of the outline application, is envisaged will include a mix from affordable homes to homes for first-time buyers, growing families and downsizers. The design, materials and style will follow in a future detailed planning application.

Major moment

Stuart Rogers, director of Project Management at Muse, 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. 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 in size and also included more green spaces and planting throughout the site.”

Bury Council and Muse formed the Prestwich Regeneration LLP joint venture in October 2022 to drive the project forward. It is expected that a decision on the plans will be made in Spring 2024 with construction starting in mid-late 2024.

Rosie Coyle thinks more females should consider careers in the construction industry and tells us why, this National Apprenticeship Week.

The 20-year-old from Preston (pictured) has had a long-held passion for building and construction and decided to pursue an apprenticeship with McCarthy Stone – a manager and developer of retirement communities.

After almost a year and a half with the company, Rosie has made the move to Jessiefield Court – a retirement development being created in Didsbury.

Apprenticeship

Rosie started her level 4 construction site supervisor apprenticeship in September 2022 after completing her A-levels, and is loving the variety of the course and the different perspectives it brings.

Now she will join the senior site team to oversee the construction of the 26 one and two-bedroom low-maintenance apartments on Spath Road.

Rosie said: “I changed my mind a lot when I was younger, about what I wanted to do with my career. I’d been around building sites in the past and had been fascinated by the process. I began looking into apprenticeships and it became clear this was the right path for me.

“As a girl at a very academically focused school, a career in construction was perhaps an unusual choice – but I’m loving it and I’ve no regrets.

“I love the fact that in the construction industry you can see the difference and the
progress you are making. You can experience the complete lifespan of a project, from acquisition of a piece of land, right through to completion and new homeowners moving in; and when you’re on site you can see the build progress day by day.”

Rosie thinks more female students would consider a career in construction if they knew about all the options available.

She added: “I have come across lots of women during my training who are hugely successful within the field. I’m really enjoying my apprenticeship and would encourage other girls to consider construction as a worthwhile career. There are so many diverse roles that you can do and so much opportunity to build on these skills and qualifications.”

Once complete, Jessiefield Court will consist of Retirement Living apartments with state-of-the-art facilities designed to enable the over 60s to enjoy maximum independence during retirement.