Bedsits planned for Preston's last windmill amid concern over extension
Plans to convert Preston’s only surviving windmill into bedsits have been redesigned after “significant structural issues” were uncovered at the 260-year-old site.
A blueprint to turn the historic structure, on Cragg’s Row in Plungington, into a house in multiple occupation (HMO) was approved back in January 2024.
Preston City Council planners gave the go-ahead to the creation of 10 bedrooms across seven floors of the Grade II-listed landmark, which was last used as a windmill in the late 19th century, when its sails were removed.
Communal kitchens and living and dining rooms were to be installed in an adjoining two-storey annexe.
However, a fresh application to the local authority now seeks permission to develop a 12-bedroom HMO, demolishing the annexe – or outrigger – in the process and replacing it with a three-floor extension.
The applicant – Clitheroe-based Simca Investments Ltd. – says the scheme has had to be scaled up in order to remain “economically feasible” given the extra remedial work now known to be needed.
A structural survey concluded that the outrigger should be dismantled and masonry repairs carried out to some of the brickwork in the main windmill tower “to render this suitable for conversion to an HMO”.
Documents submitted to the city council state that cost of the refurbishment works will be “significantly increased” as a result – hence the need for the additional rooms.
However, in so-called pre-application advice, the authority has already indicated to Simca that it does believe the size of the block proposed to replace the annexe is suitable.
It describes the existing outrigger as being “subservient to the windmill tower”, while the three-storey replacement is considered to be “overbearing”, at almost half the height of the main structure.
But the applicant has stood by its revised plans, stressing that they are required for financial “viability” reasons.
They add that changes have been made to ensure the external finish of the extension reflects that of the tower – and note that proposed timber cladding detail has been dropped, giving the new building “a more simplistic appearance”.
Since the final turn of its sails more than 125 years ago, the windmill has had a variety of uses – including as an overflow prison, piano workshop, garage, World War Two-era cinema and a merchant’s storage warehouse – but has lain largely disused for decades.
When Simca was granted approval for an HMO almost two years ago, it also secured permission for an alternative project to convert the windmill into a Airbnb-style holiday lets, but this has not been pursued.
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