Preston 'football pub' to become apartments

The Sumners - which stood at the junction of Watling Street Road and Sir Tom Finney Way, around a quarter of a mile away from the club’s Deepdale stadium - closed down in 2018. It was demolished that October, within months of it serving its last customers.

A series of proposals and revised visions for the prominent corner plot have come and gone since - but none has ever got off the ground.

Now, Preston City Council has granted permission for the creation of two likely rental, apartment blocks - the larger of which will be reserved for over 60s who are able to live independently.

The authority’s planning committee originally gave the nod to the blueprint back in February, pending the conclusion of an agreement with the applicant, PWA Planning, to secure the older persons’ element of the scheme - and to guarantee that at least 30 percent of the total 85 proposed properties would be provided as discounted ‘affordable homes’, in accordance with local planning policy.

That deal was finally signed just before Christmas and - although the reason for the delay is unknown and the agreement itself has yet to be published on the council's planning portal - town hall planners have now confirmed outline approval for the project.

Social housing provider Community Gateway Association advised the city council in October 2024 that it would purchase the site and begin work to deliver the properties as soon as planning permission - for what was then a slightly larger proposed scheme - was granted.

That commitment was based upon a vision to offer all of the dwellings on the site for affordable rent - meaning the development is set to far exceed the 30 percent threshold for affordability demanded by the council.

The smaller of the two now approved blocks will rise to four storeys and contain 34 flats, while the block open only to those aged over 60 will feature 51 apartments spread across five floors. The latter will also include a communal space “designed to encourage the residents to gather and interact”, PWA said in a planning statement that formed part of its application.

A 66-space car park will be created - including five disabled bays and four for electric vehicle charging - along with 70 bicycle storage units.

A one-way vehicular access road will run from Sir Tom Finney Way, via the former car park entrance to the pub, through to a new exit being created onto Watling Street Road.

Concerns over the impact of additional traffic at the junction were amongst the eight public objections to the proposal.

Earlier iterations of the plans for the site had included a proposed community centre and two retail units, but it emerged in 2023 that there had been “no demand” from a developer to deliver the facilities - and they were dropped from the scheme.

While the majority of the development will stand on the site previously occupied by the pub, its car park and beer garden, a small section will encroach on an area classed as “green infrastructure”. However, the bordering Eaves Brook Wildlife Corridor, which will remain untouched.