Extra bedsits planned for windmill site amid cost fears

Plans to convert Preston's only surviving windmill into bedsits have been redesigned after “significant structural issues” were uncovered at the 260-year-old site.

- by Paul Faulkner

A blueprint to turn the historic structure, on Cragg's Row in Plungington, into a house in multiple occupation (HMO) was approved back in January 2024.

Preston City Council planners gave the go-ahead to the creation of 10 bedrooms across seven floors of the Grade II-listed landmark, which was last used as a windmill in the late 19th century, when its sails were removed.

Communal kitchens and living and dining rooms were to be installed in an adjoining two-storey annexe.