£13m Preston development gets green light
An ambitious £13m plan to regenerate Preston's Friargate area has been given the go-ahead by city planners.

It will be the largest construction project in the city and the company behind it, Cheshire-based Portergate, believes it will play a major role in reviving the area – as well as creating much-needed local employment in the building sector.
Councillors have given the go ahead to create 261 student bedrooms and modern retail units on Friargate. The accommodation, including six one-bedroom studios, will be in 62 clusters.The apartments will also be aimed at post-graduate students and apprentices working in the city’s high-tech manufacturing sector and its new Enterprise Zone.
Anthony Jackson, chairman of Portergate, said: “We will play a major role in transforming the fortunes of the Friargate area and this development will encourage further investment. “This is a major construction project for Preston and that has to be good news for the city and the building industry in the area and can spark a wider regeneration of Preston if others follow our lead.”