After reading letters in the Evening Post about the selected design for Winckley Square I was expecting something gross, and being someone who doesn’t want heritage areas defaced feared the worst.
Yet the design seems fairly minimal and doesn’t appear to change the square or its character by a great deal. It opens it out and uses modern materials and features to give a more interesting and welcoming look.
One of the objectives is to make the area more welcoming after dark and lighting features are used. I would be a bit dubious about that aspect and it makes the square high maintenance, especially the fountains, although water is a nice feature and many other places use it, including Blackpools new square. You can’t fault the council for ambition on that. Maybe after visiting one of the restaurants nearby a stroll on a nice evening would be good, although I think I’d walk round it rather than in it and I haven’t been in Preston centre at night for 30 years.
Will the design still look good in 10 years? Is the design too similar to many others? Should the design reflect an earlier time? It isn’t clear whether something really great should have been done for Prestons finest green square or if it should just be returned to an as was state. On the other hand creating something great can be a very expensive route. A novel design can be controversial and playing it safe with a return to an earlier date can be unimaginative. Maybe this is a good compromise as it isn’t too extensive or modern, is interesting with small features and doesn’t detract from the overall character of the square.
When I was last in Preston we went into a cafe in Winckley Street and there was a postcard showing a photo of the square with a space for objecting to the redesign on the back. Unfortunately it didn’t say what was being proposed as an alternative but there was a photo of a rather tired looking path through heavy trees that didn’t look too good. Over the years I’ve read that many of the parks in Preston have later additions that are now treated as ‘original’, for example the Japanese Garden in Avenham, yet there seems to be a demand to preserve Winckley Square as it was without anyone being told what it was. For that reason I didn’t fill in the form, although I’m open to changing my mind.