Council to be gifted land and £100,000

James Hall and Co are to give the council two parcels of land near West View Leisure Centre, and also £100,000.

Last year the organisation had offered to build a 103-space car park for use by the leisure centre on the land, but will now provide cash instead.

Council chiefs said the opening of Morrisons had provided a large amount of parking, meaning an extra car park wasn’t needed at West View.

James Hall has now offered to transfer the land, at the cost of £1, as well as £100,000, in lieu of providing the car park.

The council’s cabinet is asked to accept the offer at a meeting next week.

Coun Martyn Rawlinson, cabinet member for resources, said the Morrisons development and wider site was providing “several spin-offs” for the area.

Approval has already been given for a development of affordable homes off Thorn Street, on land that was formerly part of the James Hall distribution site, and Coun Rawlinson said there were also proposals to create allotments in the area nearby.

He said: “They wanted to create some sort of spin-off for the leisure centre next door, because it’s a public facility subsidised by the tax payer.”

It has not yet been decided where the cash will be spent, and Coun Rawlinson said: “Both leisure centres need investment, but it’s not been decided yet - obviously we’ve got to get the money first.

“We are reviewing leisure services anyway as part of the emergency budget in October, so it’s all up in the air at the moment because we’ve got another massive chunk of savings to find.

“But, whatever happens, the people of Preston will benefit from it which is what James Hall intended.”