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Preston and Lancashire investment and development projects, strategies and plans

Discover wider projects, strategies and plans taking place across Preston and Lancashire.

Find out about wider investment and development projects and plans happening across the city and county to help transform the local area.

For key projects taking place in the city centre see Preston City Centre projects, strategies and plans.

Preston 35

A Regeneration Plan for Preston setting out the draft vision and priorities of Preston's Regeneration Board, a new and innovative collaboration between three anchor institutions:

  • Preston City Council
  • Lancashire County Council
  • University of Central Lancashire
  • Preston's private business sector represented by a leading networking group, the Preston Partnership.

To find out more about Preston 35 see Preston 35 - A Regeneration Plan for Preston (2024 - 2035).

Preston Innovates

Preston Innovates was set up to work towards achieving the second priority of the Preston 35 regeneration plan to 'maximise Preston's opportunities for cyber and innovation triggered by the relocation of National Cyber Facility in the region'.

To achieve this priority, Preston Partnership is collaborating with agencies, organisations, and businesses across the city to create the ecosystem Preston needs to make the most of the opportunities for this sector. By hosting events, sharing success stories, engaging online, and raising the profile of this sector, they are looking to further establish Preston position as a hub of innovation.

Lancashire 2050

We are working in partnership to create a long-term strategic plan for the future of Lancashire.

The Lancashire 2050 framework aims to bring people together with a shared vision, shared ambition, shared goals and shared priorities.

Initiated by Lancashire's 15 councils, but involving everyone with a stake in our county's success, it sets out the areas where we can work together to help our county thrive, seizing opportunities that are bigger than any one institution. 

By all 15 councils working together we can deliver more than the sum of our parts, and compete more effectively for national investment and development opportunities.

Our framework for action will help us focus on the things that are most important, as well as respond to changing local and global trends, policy mandates and place needs. It will mean Lancashire can speak with one voice when championing our needs in government

For more information about the framework visit Lancashire 2050.

City Deal

Preston, South Ribble and Lancashire City Deal is a £434 million funding programme that is helping to transform the local area over a 10 year period.

The investment will be used to expand transport infrastructure, support the creation of 20,000 jobs and generate more than 17,000 new homes. City Deal aims to increase the size of the local economy by £1 billion.

Lancashire Enterprise Partnership (LEP)

The LEP is a creative collaboration of leaders from business, universities and local councils who direct economic growth and drive job creation.

The LEP's aim is to:

  • ensure all companies have easy access to high grade support services that promote sustainable expansion
  • ensure access to top quality premises and skilled people which may be required for companies to grow their activities in the region
  • Provide support for businesses looking to set up operations in Preston and Lancashire 
  • assist the many companies already in the county become even more successful

Preston's City Investment Plan (2020-2035)

Preston's City Investment Plan is an ambitious 15 year vision to transform the city, targeting resources and aligning public and private sector investments to respond to needs and capitalise on opportunities for positive change with Town Fund investment being critical to its delivery.

Preston's Local Plan

The Preston Local Plan forms part of the statutory Development Plan for Preston, which aims to:

  • identify the scale of development and allocate sites to meet the development needs of Preston. This will achieve the vision for growth as outlined in Preston Council's - Central Lancashire Core Strategy.
  • identify key local issues and provide a set of policies to manage change. These will then be used by decision makers to decide on planning applications. These are known as development Management (DM) Policies

The plan will ensure that appropriate forms of development can take place in the most suitable locations. It helps provide a level of certainty about what areas will be developed or protected in future and for what purpose.

For more information about the plan and its delivery visit Preston City Council - Preston's Local Plan.

Preston's City Transport Plan

Preston's City Transport Plan presents a longterm aim of reducing congestion, providing for better public transport, and transforming the city and the wider sub-region's streets and spaces. 

The plan recognises the city's recent economic growth and future significant development ambitions, and its importance at a sub-regional and pan-Lancashire level, including the city's inter relationships across the Northern Powerhouse and nationally.

For information on the plan and its delivery see Lancashire County Council - Preston City Transport Plan.

Transforming Cities Fund (TCF)

The TCF provides investment in infrastructure to improve public and sustainable transport in some of England's largest cities.

The aim of the investment for Preston will be to move away from a car-dominated network to an integrated, accessible and sustainable non-car network, which will reduce current congestion, improve the public realm space and decrease levels of air pollution in the city.

For more information  around the bid and business case visit Lancashire County Council - Transforming Cities.

Climate Change Action

Preston City Council is committed to tackling climate change and making Preston net zero by 2030.

To help ensure carbon emissions are reduced to net zero goal by 2030, they are committed to developing, adopting and implementing a Climate Action Plan to establish clear, measurable actions to take to reduce the effect of operations and services on the environment.

The plan will outline:

  • How the Council can decarbonise their own properties and activities
  • How the Council will work with others to influence and inspire partners across the district, county and region to decarbonise their properties and activities

To view the action plan and find out how your business can help reduce its carbon footprint and go green see reduce your carbon emissions - support for businesses.

Community Wealth Building

Community Wealth Building (CWB) is an approach to economic development which aims to build a resilient and inclusive economy for the benefit of the local community.

Preston has been at the forefront of implementing the principles of CWB in the UK.

The 'Preston Model' is another term used to describe CWB. This term is often used in the press when talking about how the council, its anchor institutions and other partners are implementing the principles of CWB within Preston and the wider Lancashire area.

For more information see Community Wealth Building.