£60m UCLan plan gets council green light

The £60m University Square project in Preston has been given the green light - but only if its 'shared space' road layout can be used by people with sight problems.
What University Square will look likeWhat University Square will look like
What University Square will look like

The city’s planning committee approved the UCLan scheme yesterday, but urged county highways chiefs to consider including controlled pedestrian crossings, unlike a similar system in Fishergate.

Stuart Clayton, managing director of Galloways Society for the Blind at Penwortham told the committee shared space schemes were “fundamentally flawed” because they were almost a no-go area for blind and partially sighted people.

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Councillors decided to include controlled crossings as one of the conditions of planning approval. LCC is the highways authority and will have the final say.

Coun John Swindells (pictured) said: “The entire scheme will be a great asset to the c ity of Preston. We welcome the big investment UCLan are putting in. We’re not criticising the scheme as a whole, it is just addressing concerns that it is accessible to everyone.”

University Square is the focal point of a £200m UCLan Masterplan to transform the city campus in Preston.

It will include a new student centre on the site of the old Fylde Building and will mean the reconfiguration of the Adelphi roundabouts to provide a public square with shared space.