Preston and Lancashire City Deal

The Preston and Lancashire City Deal is an agreement between the Government and four local partners; Lancashire County Council, Lancashire Enterprise Partnership, Preston City Council and South Ribble Borough Council.

The deal is a landmark agreement to achieve a once-in-a-lifetime transformation of the area, creating thousands of new jobs and homes.

A total £434m new investment will lead to the expansion and improvement of the transport infrastructure in Preston and South Ribble at an unprecedented rate, enabling a forecast 20,000 new jobs and 17,420 new homes to be created.

It will provide a huge boost to the local economy, which is expected to grow by £1 billion over the next ten years.

More jobs in the area

The central Lancashire area has enjoyed amongst the best rates of new job creation in the United Kingdom over the last decade, with more than 20,000 new jobs created in the private sector.

This reflects the area's excellent location, skilled workforce, strengths in training and education, and quality of life. The City Deal is based on the premise that there is great potential for this rate of growth to continue, but only if the core infrastructure is transformed to provide the extra capacity further significant growth would require.

Without this infrastructure, growth will be constrained.

Key facts to the City Deal

The deal includes a £334 million Infrastructure Deliver Programme including:

Inclusion and retention of land values uplift on named HCA assets, up to a maximum of £37m
Inclusion of £72m of DfT (Department for Transport) 'local major' transport funding
Inclusion of local partner funding of £145.2m
Inclusion of private sector funding of £80m
Use of £51m of repayable funds from the HCA land receipts as a cash flow support to the Infrastructure Delivery Programme

* The Preston City Council and South Ribble Borough Council contributions are largely made up of an anticipated, rapid increase in receipts from the New Homes Bonus and income from business rates generated as a result of the City Deal proceeding.

Transport Schemes

The main transport schemes included in the City Deal are:

Preston Western Distributor (PWD) - this will link the A583/A584 to the motorway network via a new junction on the M55. This road will improve access to the Warton site of the Lancashire EZ, the Springfields nuclear fuel facility at Salwick and enable the comprehensive development of the North West Preston strategic housing location which will accommodate over 4,000 new homes. Scheme costs of £109.5m.
South Ribble Western Distributor (SRWD) - this will double vehicle capacity between Preston City Centre and the motorway network, at the point at which the M65, M6 and M61 connect. This enhancement will enable full development of, and access to, Cuerden Strategic Employment site and the adjacent Lancashire Business Park. In addition it will unlock housing schemes accommodating up to 2,700 new homes. Scheme costs: £52.5m.
Broughton Congestion Relief - this will provide critical relief to the A6, North East Preston and the M6. This new road will unlock housing sites in creating over 1,400 new homes, as well as enabling full development of new and future employment sites in East Preston creating over 5,000 new jobs. Scheme costs: £23.9m
Penwortham Bypass - this will complete the Penwortham Bypass, complementing SRWD capacity improvements and connecting the network to Ringway. It will significantly improve access between local and motorway networks, reducing congestion in Preston City Centre through by-passing of City Centre routes. In addition it will enable future housing opportunities to come forward beyond 2024. It will also define the route of the new bridge crossing of the River Ribble linking with the PWD. Scheme costs: £17.5m.

There will also be a £100m investment fund, from the Lancashire County Pension Fund. This will be a new venture under which the pension fund will invest in local schemes on a commercial basis. The pension fund manages a portfolio of investments across the UK - this new approach ensures that some of its investment will in future be concentrated on the Preston and Lancashire area.

Other key city investment and development projects

To find out about other key city investment and development projects taking place in and around the city visit Invest Preston - key project, strategies and plans.