Preston's Harris Park orphanage site proposal rejected

Proposals included converting several Grade II-listed buildings on the former orphanage site in Harris Park

Plans to convert a Grade II-listed former orphanage have been rejected, after the council deemed it an "unacceptable level" of redevelopment.

The proposal included converting buildings at Harris Knowledge Park in Preston into residential housing.

Preston City Council said the scheme would cause "substantial harm" to the 136-year-old park's appearance.

Architect group Cassidy and Ashton said refusing the application "will not provide a future" for the site.

The charitable orphanage was built in 1884 and is on Historic England's list of buildings of architectural and historic interest.

The proposal also included building 30 houses on an adjoining cricket field, where ex-England star Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff practised as a child, the LDRS reported.

A spokesman for Cassidy and Ashton said: "Refusing the applications will not benefit the site, it will not provide a future - it will simply kick the can down the road."

Planning officers concluded that the proposed route through the site ignored "the importance of its historic layout".