Lancashire’s tallest skyscraper set for approval

Plans to build what would become Lancashire’s tallest skyscraper in the heart of Preston are set to be given the go-ahead by councillors.

The 30-storey ‘Altura’ structure has been proposed for a site currently occupied by a small car park on the corner of Derby Street and Lords Walk, close to the city’s bus station.

If approved, the 87-metre-high residential and office building – which would be just over half the height of Blackpool Tower – will feature 218 apartments, commercial workspace and a raft of communal facilities for its 270 residents.

The vision for the 0.1 hectare plot was first unveiled last August, since when a planning application – from TSS Property Ltd. – has been under consideration by Preston City Council planners. They have now recommended that the authority’s cross-party planning committee approves the scheme – designed by Preston-based David Cox Architects – when it meets later this month.

Each of the apartments – 163 with one bedroom and 55 with two – would come with what are described as “winter garden balconies” and benefit from a 24-hour concierge service. A gym, pilates studio, games room and residents-only cinema would also be included in the block, which would stand on the opposite corner to the 12-storey Unicentre building and just yards from the part-16-storey Exchange apartment development.

A report to be presented to the committee sets out council officers’ reasons for suggesting permission is granted for the £40m project, which has been through an independent design review process that has seen substantial changes made.    It concludes that while the proposed building would be “a prominent addition to the Preston skyline”, it complies with local planning policy.

Any harm caused to the nearest listed buildings to the site – the bus station and the Carey Baptist Church, both Grade II rated – is considered to be “at the low end of less than substantial”.

The church and its associated nursery facility were the source of two of the three public objections to the plans, with each contending that the new building would result in a loss of light to their own.

The impact on the Grade I-listed St. Walburge’s Church – which boasts the tallest spire of any parish church in the country and is around a mile away from the proposed Altura site – was also assessed by planning officials.

They judged that while the new block “is of substantial size and height” it would be far enough away to ensure the effect on “the setting and appreciation of the church is not considered harmful”.

Officers also noted that, although the difference was only “marginal”, Altura would remain lower than the tip of St. Walburge’s spire, which reaches 94 metres into the air.

Meanwhile, committee members will be told that after back-and-forth discussions with the applicant about the volume of ‘affordable housing’ it would be financially viable for the development to deliver, it has been provisionally agreed that a £533,000 sum is paid for the creation of discounted homes elsewhere in the city. However, there will be no such properties within the new tower block itself.

A decision on the application will be reached at a planning committee meeting in Preston Town Hall on 28th April at 2pm.