Guild Hall decision, food waste bins and more – the stories set to shape Preston in 2026

Well, they are making a return during 2026 and not just in Preston but across Lancashire too. South Ribble have already fired the starting gun on their bin deliveries.

It’s aimed at increasing recycling and stopping food waste heading to landfill. They are free and for each household, but there’s plenty of issues to be worked through. Expect them to be operational by April and we’ll have plenty of reporting on exactly when the caddies – there’s more than one coming – arrive.

Big schemes, but will they happen?

On the drawing board as extensive changes for the St John’s Shopping Centre and the area around Preston Railway Station.

Don’t expect any work to start on either in 2026 but we will see both of the schemes go before councillors at some stage.

Station Quarter, an attempt to revive large-scale office working in the city centre, would eventually result in the demolition of the current Fishergate centre if the full scheme ever happens.

A close-up view of the walk through the St John’s centre

While ambitious plans for the St John’s centre show its days would be numbered if the wrecking ball swings to replace it with major apartment blocks, shops and a health hub.

Where we will see work happen

Preston Youth Zone is to be the big opening of this year, and it’s been a long time coming. More than 15 years in fact.

After land and cash was pumped in by Preston City Council it is being built opposite the Bus Station and Vault will have the grand opening at some stage in early 2026 – but is operational before that as young people from across Preston and beyond start to use the state-of-the-art facilities.

Elsewhere, work on Friargate South gets started – currently one of the most run-down sections of the city centre and littered with empty shops – and we’ll also see works take place in the area between the Markets and Flag Markets on top of the ongoing Amounderness House works.

While down in Avenham Park the new tram bridge will be finished during the Spring.

Development won’t just be confined to the city centre either, from a new Sainsbury’s opening up at the Black Bull crossroads in Fulwood, SPAR taking on a former car garage in Grimsargh, new coffee shops at Lane Ends, you can expect to see the district centres continue to survive and in many cases thrive as people continue to stay more local for shopping, dining, entertainment and more.

Juxtaposition with heritage

While plenty of new buildings and works may emerge, what of the city’s heritage buildings?

The battle of the Tithebarn pub may not yet be resolved if the Preserving Preston’s Heritage group continue their pressure on the council.

While the likes of Edith Rigby House, the old Post Office, the former St Joseph’s Orphanage, the Harris Institute and Arkwright House and more sit empty and forlorn.

Clouds above the Shankly Hotel. Credit: Blog Preston

Is there to be any kind of financial stimulus to match the emotional and passionate outpouring in the past year about making more of Preston’s heritage buildings.

What it all means for hospitality

One of the key intentions behind the bulk of redevelopment in the city centre is to consolidate the retail offering while increasingly positioning Preston city centre as a place to live, work or socialise.

You can see that in the reopening of The Harris and the opening of Animate. Whatever your view on both, they bolster the options in the centre considerably.

All of which hopefully means more customers to go around for Preston’s independent restaurants and, more than ever, the big chains.

It has always been an industry of flux and 2025 saw a number of much-loved spots – Brew + Bake standing out but not alone – close for the last time. We saw burst of big chicken names – some of which did not even make it to the end of the year but some that seem to be here for the long haul.

The exit of Different Gravy from Mad Giant, the new food hall at Animate, leaves a big gap that will need to be filled with a crowd pleaser. We’ve nothing but anecdotal evidence but that trader looked to be comfortably the most popular and the success of the entire thing could hinge of something exciting coming in.

Looking elsewhere, both Aven and Saucier have made no secret of their desire to bag awards. What difference would a Michelin Star or a Bib Gourmand (given to excellence and affordability) make to how attractive Preston is? Both are good enough, but award judges only seldom look this way.

Political battles and Preston’s place in Lancashire

Whether Preston goes to the polls in May is still being thrashed out – a request by the city council to skip the proposed local election, due to the ongoing local government reorganisation is one of many requests made not just here in Lancashire but across the country too. There’s mixed signals as yet on whether it will happen.

If it does, expect one of the most highly charged local elections in a long time and one which in Preston anyway will be very hard to call. An incumbent and current large-majority local Labour party would be very much up for the fight to preserve their grip on the Town Hall while battling the headwinds of national unpopularity from their central government counterparts, Reform will fancy their chances in certain seats after the County Hall surge last year, the pro-Gaza Preston Independents (who want to join YourParty but we’re not sure if they are YourParty in or not as yet) will prove wildcards and likely take seats, split votes and disrupt as they did in county elections, a more active local Conservative party may want to give defecting Reformers a bloody nose, and the Lib Dems have won in the west of the city in recent by-elections and will be bouncing. Nope, we wouldn’t like to call it – but it’d certainly make for an interesting results count day (if there is one).

Set against all that will be the ongoing debate about what the shape of Lancashire should look like as the days of Preston City Council – and all other councils – are numbered. The government wants unitary authorities (so a single council which does everything across a larger geographic area) as opposed to the current county and district level we mainly have at the moment (with the exception of Blackpool and Blackburn). An official consultation will come from the government at some point in 2026 and the people of Preston and Lancashire will be asked their opinion, yet again, on something which has drifted along for many years.

It will likely be decided in Whitehall at any point and the handwringing over whether Lancashire should have a Mayor will continues too. Who Preston joins with in its administrative council area may also become clearer.

The preference from the Town Hall at present is a tie up with Lancaster and Ribble Valley.

A Guild Hall decision

Standing empty since 2019, the Guild Hall has become an albatross around the neck of the current Labour administration.

But council leader Matthew Brown has committed to making a decision on what should happen with a city venue.

Consultants are in drawing up options and we know reports will be looked at in detail in early 2026 before an announcement is made.

Repair the current building, demolish it and rebuild on the same site, demolish and build something elsewhere. There’s plenty of options, but what appetite and budget is there?

We’ll finally know which direction the city’s main entertainment venue is heading in this year.

Moments of pride

Prestonians are proud people and we will keep reporting on all the fantastic and heartwarming things people do.

For our part, we’ll be bedding down at Deepdale in March for the return of the Big PNE Sleep Out which aims to raise £100,000 to help stem the rising tide of female homelessness in the city – working with the Foxton and the Preston North End Community and Education Trust.

Harriet Creighton-Levis and Cath Coffey Harriet Creighton-Levis (PNE) and Cath Coffey (Foxton) at Deepdale launching the Big PNE Sleep Out

While the same month is also to see the first-ever Proud Preston Awards. We can’t wait to see who the city nominates and are rewarded in the ceremony.

So there’s just a bit going on in 2026, and we have no doubt plenty more stories and topics will emerge and dominate the city’s agenda.

You can rely on us to be right there reporting on it all, as we have done since 2009. A strong, independent, local news title is a key part in keeping the city informed of what’s going on.

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