Medical hub proposed in brownfield Preston project
A building on St Paul’s Road, Deepdale, once part of a bus depot and later used as council offices, is in line for conversion.
The building fronts St Paul’s Road, with the council-owned former bus parking areas to the rear.
Applicant St Paul’s Pharmamedics, working with Cassidy + Ashton’s planning team and architect 1618, wants to demolish the single storey extensions to the rear, to clear space for 22 staff and customer parking spaces, while converting the two-storey building.
All buildings on site are currently vacant.
The site sits on a main bus route. At present, the buildings take up around 10,000 sq ft – the proposed development would come in at around 5,500 sq ft over two floors.
In its design & access statement, 1618 said “This redevelopment initiative not only pledges to cater to the healthcare requirements of existing patients but also to meet the evolving needs of the community by providing a contemporary and functional medical facility.”
Plans now lodged with and validated by Preston City Council can be viewed on the council planning portal with the reference 06/2025/0218.
The desire as set out in the DAS is for a welfare building to be set up on site while planning is secured, then take 12 to 18 months over the rear demolitions and strip-out of the main building before redevelopment.
Dr R Ali’s surgery would be the occupier. The surgery currently has 4,000 registered patients, a number that is growing by 20% annually – by opening this new facility, it could accommodate a further 3,000 patients, the applicant’s team said.
While the site falls within the boundary of the Argyll Road housing site allocation, which covers up to 300 homes, Cassidy + Ashton said that “the proposed development comprises a use which will support the wider residential population, including any new housing developments, and the remainder of the allocation would remain available for residential purposes”.
As C+A summed up, “the redevelopment of the brownfield site would bring a number of health and social benefits to the local and wider area, and represent a sustainable form of development, for which there is a general presumption in favour”.
