Old Preston hospital building to be bulldozed for new community centre

The facility will replace what was once the Preston Neuro Rehabilitation Unit, part of the old Sharoe Green Hospital, on Watling Street Road.

The site, opposite the Masjid e Salaam Mosque, is already operating as a community venue, after being converted over five years ago.

However, the Salaam Educational Trust now wants to create a more modern premises for its existing children’s day nursery, madrassa, adult and children’s education facilities, library and community hall – all of which form part of the plans for the new building.

The proposal was given the go-ahead at a meeting of Preston City Council’s planning committee.

The new centre will be up to three storeys high in parts, replacing the current single-level building – and will see the available floorspace more than doubled, with larger classrooms and a bigger hall to accommodate more activities. An outdoor children’s play area will also be created.

Seventeen objections were received to the plans, with concerns including a loss of natural light for residents on nearby Glebe Close, as well as noise pollution.

However, a report to the committee concluded that the building would not be “unacceptably overbearing” – and planning officer Jonathan Evans told members that the replacement of one non-residential use with another did not represent an “over-concentration” of the site.

Alban Cassidy, the agent for the application, said that the redevelopment would improve the appearance of the area and that the community hall would be available for hire by local groups.

“The existing building is tired and not really suitable for providing these activities in the longer term, without considerable continuous work to repair and renovate.

“[It] does not complement either the adjacent listed building [the former workhouse, now Preston Business Centre], conservation area or, indeed, the modern Masjid e Salaam Mosque. It appears squat and out of scale.

“In what we hope will soon be a post-Covid world, it is not the most inviting place to go,” Mr. Cassidy said.

Committee member David Borrow noted that the proposed building would be located on the eastern edge of the plot, “furthest away from the residential property on [Glebe Close], where we have had some objections”.

“I think the design complements the existing area and certainly is an improvement on the building that’s there at the moment,” Cllr Borrow said.

The organisation has been told that it will have to bring forward proposals for a number of electric charging points within the proposed 104-space car park. That car park can also continue to be used outside of the community centre hours during Ramadan, as it is currently.

The opening hours of the centre will be unchanged – 7.30am-10pm on weekdays, 8am-10pm on Saturdays and 8pm-9pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays.

The application was approved unanimously by the committee.