Preston Bus Station: public opinion on reuse, redevelopment and relisting

Abstract

This study was conducted on Preston Bus Station (hereafter PBS) which is a 1969 grade II listed building which is located in Preston City Centre Lancashire, a questionnaire and internet blog based study was undertaken to determine the public’s opinion of the redevelopment, reuse and listing of PBS and in particular its users. This study was undertaken because of past controversies surrounding the demolition, potential redevelopment and recent listing of the building to gain the public’s views and find out what the people who use the bus station want from it, comparing this finally with its recent and past plans. The findings from the study showed that PBS is valued by the public and that most people don’t want to see it demolished, the listing of the building is appreciated as most people respect that it’s a significantly old building which is part of heritage, the main aspect of the bus station that the public wanted to see change to was the modernising of the interior. The results of the study examine the relationship between the existing literature surround post-war listed buildings, conservation and redevelopment and the public’s perception, putting this into a wider context relating to redevelopment, conservation and listing of historic and post-war architecture.