Holiday apartments plan for ‘Cinderella’ street in Preston city centre

Council chiefs have been asked to approve a plan to turn office accommodation on Fishergate Hill into 21 self-catering flats for holidaymakers.

The building, on the corner with Walton's Parade, was the headquarters of commercial insurance brokers Anderson Ashcroft until September last year. It also housed the trade union Unison.

Applicants North West Lettings have revealed a scheme to convert the property, close to County Hall and Preston Railway Station, into holiday accommodation over three floors, with a large car park for 24 vehicles at the rear.

A planning report submitted by architects Studio John Bridge says the 21 units proposed will "support hosting visitors into the city centre for both work and leisure."

The company says that the only elements of the building being removed are internal doors and stud partitions "to create improved living spaces." The imposing exterior will not be changed, but will be cleaned up "to preserve the character of the area."

The property is in the Fishergate Hill Conservation Area. The plans follow a similar project in Walton's Parade to convert another empty office complex into apartments which was given the thumbs up by Preston City Council in 2018.

Developers want to keep as many of the original features of the Fishergate Hill building as possible as a nod to the Conservation Area. "The exiting internal fabrication will be celebrated, taken back to the existing fixtures, and improved where necessary, introducing new finishes for attractive holiday units," says the report.

Despite millions being spent on the upper part of Fishergate, the "poor cousin" Fishergate Hill, from the railway station to Strand Road, has been on Historic England's "At Risk" register since 2010. Last year's register described it as "deteriorating" and in "very bad" condition.

In 2016 a local historian - the late Aidan Turner-Bishop - said "It has always been a bit of a Cinderella area. When you look at what’s happened to the shopping stretch of Fishergate, it’s sad to see what the road is like further down. Something needs to be done because, if you half close your eyes, it is quite a handsome street really. But it seems to have been forgotten."