Planning awards success for Preston

14 September 2020

Preston City Council's planning department has been judged to provide "an exemplary approach to identifying, unlocking and kick-starting brownfield housing sites."

We're very proud that Preston's City Living Strategy has won the Planning for Increased Housing Delivery Award and the overall Editor's Choice Award at the national Planning Awards 2020, that took place 8 & 9 September.

The delivery of quality homes in inner Preston has started to take off in the last few years, but there is an opportunity to significantly increase these numbers by providing the right solutions to unlock the sites.

City Living Preston provides the overarching framework for housing growth in the city centre and surrounding inner suburbs. It's a pro-active response to previous market challenges around the delivery of housing within inner Preston.

The strategy specifically seeks to attract interest from local, small and medium sized house builders, including both private developers and housing associations, linking to the council's approach on maximising local spend through the Preston Model.

Councillor Peter Moss, Cabinet member for planning and regulation, said,

"I'm delighted that Preston has been recognised at a national level for this fantastic work on City Living Preston.

"I am particularly pleased with the judges' comments about the criteria for selecting winners included "real social and environmental benefits", "real benefits for local people" and an "exemplar approach to kick starting brownfield sites."

"This award is testament to the terrific partnership work of both organisations and is the culmination of high quality work day in, day out to further our ambitions for the city."

Chris Hayward, Director of Development and Housing at Preston City Council, said,

"All of the actions taken by the council and Hive Land & Planning are having a major impact on increasing housing delivery within inner Preston, demonstrating a wide-ranging approach to development, supporting the housing market and delivering long-term benefits to local communities."

Stuart Sage, Director Hive Land and Planning, added,

"Supporting Preston City Council's drive to find innovative ways to unlock brownfield land enables Hive Land & Planning to use its wide range of experience in problem-solving and developing effective public-private partnerships. We are honoured that this work has been recognised as being exemplary at a national level and we look forward to continuing to help deliver the decent affordable homes that Preston needs."

More information

• Details of all the winners can be found on the Planning Awards website (Planning for Increased Housing Delivery Award)
• Read more about Preston City Living on the Visit Preston website
• Preston City Council actively applies and prioritises the principles of Community Wealth Building wherever applicable and appropriate. Community Wealth Building is an approach which aims to ensure the economic system builds wealth and prosperity for everyone. 
• Hive Land and Planning are retained by Preston City Council to advise and provide technical support on a range of residential development related matters