About & Contact
About the campaign
The Restoring Preston Basin campaign was established in 2023 following the launch of the Preston Station Quarter Regeneration Framework in March 2022.
The Preston Station Quarter Regeneration Framework was developed by Preston City Council, Lancashire County Council and the University of Central Lancashire. The framework envisages four districts or quadrants centred on Preston railway station, these being: Station Quarter East, Station Quarter West, County Hill and University Walk.
A masterplan framework is a planning document that intends to provide a conceptual layout of an area guiding growth and development over a long-term timeframe. As of 2024, the developments and buildings proposed in the Preston Station Quarter Regeneration Framework for the University Walk quadrant are conceptual.
The framework does not take into account or acknowledge the site of Preston Basin.
The official indicative plans for University Walk can be viewed in the Preston Station Quarter Regeneration Framework - Proposals by Quadrant to Delivering the Vision from page 67 of the PDF onwards. An overview and full set of documents covering the Preston Station Quarter Regeneration Framework can be found in this link: www.investprestoncity.com/Key-projects-strategies-and-plans/Preston-City-Centre/Preston-Station-Quarter-Project.
The Restoring Preston Basin campaign aims to:
Encourage the sensitive redevelopment of the Preston Basin site, promoting several possible options for the restoration and incorporation of Preston Basin that are complementary to any redevelopment plans for the site.
Recognise the potential of Preston Basin, repurposing the 19th century site as a 21st century multi-purpose amenity, recreational and biodiverse space.
Demonstrate how restoring Preston Basin is supportive and complementary to the objectives of the Preston Station Quarter Regeneration Framework, in particular the desire to create new public space, reuse heritage assets, help create a network of green infrastructure and incorporate Nature-based Solutions (NBS) and Sustainable urban Drainage Systems (SUDS).
Underscore the role a restored Preston Basin can play in promoting Preston's heritage while highlighting the critical importance of Preston Basin and the Lancaster Canal in Preston’s growth and development.
Raise awareness of Preston Basin and its current status, largely forgotten and overlooked, and buried beneath the car park of the Corporation Street Retail Park.
Please note the campaign does not propose to restore and reopen the ‘lost mile’ of the Lancaster Canal between its current terminus north of Aqueduct Street and Preston Basin. The campaign does not propose the reconstruction of the three canal warehouses that stood at the head of the basin or the short section of canal that was straddled by the central canal warehouse.
Preston Basin's relatively short length and isolation from the main Lancaster Canal would mean the basin would not be feasible for navigation.
The Restoring Preston Basin campaign proposal is not a formal planning application and has been established to campaign for the restoration of the basin as part of any development proposed for the site. The campaign sees the restoration of the basin as 'part and parcel' of the wider redevelopment of the area as preferential to a standalone project.
The Restoring Preston Basin plan is based on the OS 25 inch to the mile map (published 1912) and the indicative plans for the University Walk quadrant in the Preston Station Quarter Regeneration Framework - Proposals by Quadrant to Delivering the Vision from page 67 of the PDF. For clarity, the Restoring Preston Basin plan omits certain buildings and outlines are indicative only.
The campaign is currently non-technical in nature. At present, the estimated costs for each possible restoration option are unknown.
Contact & social media
To contact, discuss ways in which to collaborate or to support the Restoring Preston Basin campaign, please email Mr D. Crowther: restoreprestonbasin@gmail.com
The campaign has an X (formerly Twitter) account: https://x.com/PrestonBasin
Please report broken links to the email above.
Supporters
The Restoring Preston Basin campaign is grateful to the following for their support:
Canal & River Trust, 6 November 2023: ‘’The Trust has been consulted on various canal sections, including those isolated from the main network and has in the past advised developers in preserving canal alignments. In conclusion, whilst this historic section of canal is not under the ownership of the Canal & River Trust, we are supportive of repurposing Preston Basin for community benefit and its role in contributing the regeneration of Preston City Centre.’’
Inland Waterways Association, A New Opportunity for Preston, 20 August 2023: https://waterways.org.uk/branch_news/preston-basin-proposed-redevelopment-of-former-lancaster-canal-terminus.
In the news
BBC: Hopes buried canal could become city green space, 27 August 2024:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce9z17510k2o
Lancashire Post: Canal plan for Preston to take city 'back to the future' as part of regeneration vision, 26 August 2024:
LancsLive: Preston's buried canal concealed by shops and car park and big vision to transform it, 28 August 2024:
www.lancs.live/news/lancashire-news/prestons-buried-canal-concealed-shops-29817716
Blog Preston: An ambitious idea for developing Preston city centre’s currently buried canal basin, 17 August 2024:
Place North West: Thing of the Week, 30 August 2024:
Acknowledgements
The Restoring Preston Basin campaign would like thank the following for their assistance:
Janet Rigby, author of Life on the Lancaster Canal (2006) and Lancaster Canal in Focus (2007).
Paul Hindle, Chairman, Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal Society: www.mbbcs.org.uk/
Nigel Hardacre, Publicity and David Faulkner, Chairman, Inland Waterways Association (IWA) Lancashire & Cumbria Branch: https://waterways.org.uk/waterways/branches/iwa-lancashire-cumbria-branch
Kate Gordon, Partnerships & Development Manager/Enterprise Manager, North West Region, Canal & River Trust: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/
Nicholas Boys Smith, Founder and Chair; David Milner, Director; Lauren Botterill, Urban Designer and Project Coordinator; Robert Kwolek, Senior Architectural Designer and Project Manager; Ed Leahy, Urban Designer and Constance de Montigny, Director of Operations, Create Streets: www.createstreets.com
Steve and Patricia Harrison, Friends of Winckley Square, Preston: www.winckleysquarepreston.org
Michael Akers, Preston.
Mark Newhouse.
Hugh Potter.
Graham and Bernadette Dixon.
Stewart Turner and Peter Wilkinson, Preston Historical Society: www.prestonhistoricalsociety.org.uk
Biomatrix Water, Moray: www.biomatrixwater.com
OKRA Landscape Architects BV, Utrecht, The Netherlands: www.okra.nl
Lancashire Archives, Preston: www.lancashire.gov.uk/libraries-and-archives/archives-and-record-office/
Restoring Preston Basin campaign, 2022 - 2025.