‘Prestwich transformed’: Eight things you probably didn’t know about the massive £100M regeneration of the town

A transformed Prestwich town centre will emerge in the next few years as plans for a £100M regeneration gather pace. Last week, a formal planning application was lodged containing more than 210 documents outlining how a huge area, including the soon to be demolished Longfield centre, will be replaced.

Developers Prestwich Regeneration, a joint venture between developers Muse and Bury Council, say the transformation will cement the suburb as one of the best places to live and spend time in the region. The new layout includes a ‘Mackie Mayor’ style food hall for food and drink operators with communal seating spilling out onto a new village square.

A community hub with a library and flexible community space that can be used for events, clubs and art and culture.It will also host a new Prestwich Health Centre, with discussions ongoing with the NHS and local GP practices.

The plans, which have a construction phase for the project of just over three years, also contain a new village square with family-friendly areas for people to meet and relax, which has been designed to be used for pop-up events like markets, food festivals, art exhibitions and live performances.

Here we take a deep dive into the plans and look at eight specific elements of the huge development:

The current ground level parking between the Longfield centre and the tram station is set to be used for housing development. The plans contain proposals for an active travel hub on the current ground level car park off Fairfax Road. It includes a four level multi-storey car park.

The plans, state: “The relocation of car parking from the centre of the site to a new travel hub will improve the permeability of the village centre, give the village back to pedestrians