The Longfield Centre is coming down: what's replacing it

The Longfield Centre, the heart of Prestwich village for more than 60 years, is being demolished to make way for a new village centre. Work was due to start in early August and is expected to run until around the turn of the year, according to Your Prestwich, the partnership behind the scheme.

The scheme is a £100 million regeneration led by Prestwich Regeneration LLP, a joint venture between Bury Council and the developer Muse. Bury Council’s planning committee approved the outline plans in July 2024. A further £6.8 million from the Greater Manchester Good Growth Fund means the next phase can go ahead, and a planning application for it has been submitted to the council.

What’s being built

The plans replace the Longfield Centre with a new library and community hub, with independent shops and leisure businesses on its ground floor. There will be a market hall with smaller units for local traders, more retail and leisure space around it, and a large village square for markets, events and festivals.

There are also 248 new homes, including affordable homes, and green space throughout: trees, places to sit and rain gardens that drain the site naturally. The fountain will go, replaced by new public art.

Some of the old centre should survive. The developers say they will keep features such as the Longfield Centre shield where it’s practical to, and a heritage exhibition about the centre has moved to Bury Art Museum.

Parking: the new travel hub

The first phase is a multi-storey travel hub off Fairfax Road, replacing the old car park there. It has 301 parking spaces, including 30 electric vehicle charging bays and 15 accessible bays, plus two hire-car bays and storage for 76 bikes. It was due to open in 2026; check Your Prestwich for the latest before you drive in.

The Longfield Centre car park stays open for now. It will close later, once construction needs the space and the travel hub is open as an alternative. When the scheme is finished there will be 347 spaces in total across the village centre.

What stays open

Businesses on Poppythorn Lane stay open throughout the works, and so do businesses in the Radius building, including the shop units facing the Longfield Centre. Village Greens, the community-owned grocer, has already moved there: you’ll now find it at Unit 3, The Radius.

If you used a business inside the Longfield Centre, it has either moved or closed. We’re checking each one before it goes back in the directory, so if you know where a Longfield business has gone, please tell us.

Getting around during the works

The demolition site is closed to the public behind hoardings. The cut-through from Rectory Lane is shut, and pedestrians are directed along the footpath by the former Iceland store, with signed diversions around the site.

Expect one side of Rectory Lane to close for about four weeks midway through the programme, with temporary traffic lights to keep it moving. Your Prestwich will publish the exact dates once they’re set.

The health centre isn’t part of this phase. Its future is still being worked out with the NHS, and existing services carry on unchanged.

Keep up with it

Your Prestwich publishes the plans, the latest updates and answers to common questions, and you can register there for news. We’ll keep this page and the directory up to date as businesses settle into their new homes.