Planners to hear £700m Preston Tithebarn scheme debated (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Planners to hear £700m Preston Tithebarn scheme debated

3:39pm Tuesday 7th July 2009 in

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A CONTROVERSIAL £700 million redevelopment of Preston will go before planners in the next week.

The Tithebarn scheme, which includes a flagship John Lewis store, has been opposed by Blackburn with Darwen council, which fears it will overshadow the borough’s own regeneration plans and kill trade in the town centre.

But supporters of the scheme insist their fears are unfounded and say it will help the whole of Lancashire’s regeneration.

There has been a bitter fallout between bosses in Blackburn with Darwen and Preston over the impact of the project on neighbouring towns and Blackpool council has also objected.

At £700 million, the proposed Tithebarn project is 10 times more costly than Blackburn’s efforts to rejuvinate its shopping centre.

The planning file to be debated this week includes wide-ranging objections from bodies including the Victorian Society and the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment.

It will go before Preston City Council’s planning committee tomorrow and the following Wednesday.

But even if it is given the go-ahead, the scale of objections could still force a public inquiry.