A city in Lancashire has been named the UK’s worst new town in a list, which also features the best, by The Telegraph.
Introducing the list, the newspaper said: “With Labour promising to build new towns to solve the housing crisis, we rate the post-war originals. Are any of them worth a weekend away?”
It added: “Here are 10 to visit – ranked from worst to best – if you want to go back to the future, as imagined by post-war Britain.”
In 10th place (making it the worst new town in the UK) is Preston with the bus station and its “beautiful” car park being mentioned.
You can see the full list of the best and worst new towns in the UK via The Telegraph’s website.
What did The Telegraph say about Preston?
The Telegraph said: “Preston’s magnificent Brutalist bus station, with its beautiful (really!) multi-storey car park, is a salient reminder of its post-war ambitions.
“The Preston Bypass, the country’s first motorway, opened in 1958. Preston was relatively close to Manchester and Liverpool; it could offer relocating residents space, clean air and proximity to the Forest of Bowland, Blackpool and the Lake District.
“But the project to regenerate, populate and link up Preston, Leyland and Chorley (aka Central Lancashire New Town, aka – though no one took this name very seriously – Red Rose City) was doomed.
“A Mark 3 scheme, it was officially designated in 1970 (a year after the bus station was built) with an intended population of 321,500 by 1986, rising to 420,000 by 2001.
“It would have been the biggest of the new towns, but there was too much local opposition. In 1971, when a public inquiry was opened, protesters would barely fit in the main hall of the Guild Hall.
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“Despite the creation of a development corporation, nothing much was actually built and the proposed new town was wound up in 1985.
“Preston became a city in 2002. The bus station was earmarked for demolition in 2012 and then listed in 2013. It’s almost two miles by car from the railway station. Planners, eh.”
Also among the list are the likes of Corby (9th place), Skelmersdale (5th place), Milton Keynes (1st place) and more.
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