Civic groups slam student flats plan for Lancaster's historic quayside pump house

Lancaster Civic Vision and Lancaster and District Heritage Group have both criticised proposals submitted to the city council for 35 studio apartments to be developed at the historic building - the last remaining part of thw Williamson’s industrial empire.

In 2020 Luneside East Limited completed the development of 431 student rooms at the St George’s Works site.

This latest application is for the conversion of the remaining undeveloped building on the site, known as The Pump House.

The building has suffered extensive vandalism, theft and arson attempts, and there is a large amount of asbestos present that would be removed as part of the redevelopment work.

The proposal by FRISIA Real Estate seeks to retain many elements of the building, including its original footprint, the external walls, pitched roof, and feature internal glazed brick work,

It would also seek to reinstate the window openings and archways on the perimeter walls.

However, local groups Lancaster Civic Vision and Lancaster and District Heritage Group have both recorded strong objections to the scheme.

Hugh Roberts, on behalf of Lancaster Civic Vision, said: "Lancaster Civic Vision greatly regrets the fact that an opportunity to retain a significant feature of the city’s industrial history is being missed.

"The Pump House is one of the last vestiges still standing of the once mighty Nairn-Williamson manufacturing empire, which played such a vital and integral part in Lancaster’s historic development.

"This building is the last fragment of a massive industrial complex where huge wealth was generated and which employed thousands of local people; its importance cannot be overstated.

"Earlier suggestions that the space could be used as a community hub, to be shared by both students from the surrounding high-rise blocks and local residents, were far more imaginative.

"We reiterate our concern that the provision of yet more student accommodation is both unnecessary and undesirable.

"An appropriately designed plaque should be affixed to the exterior recording the historic importance of the building.

"It represents a missed opportunity which future generations of industrial archaeologists will find baffling."

Lancaster and District Heritage Group said: "The proposal would mean that the opportunity to provide much needed communal/community space would be lost, and yet another part of Lancaster's industrial heritage would disappear from the public realm.

"St George's Works was the significant element of this business up to the 1890s, employing the majority of the Williamson workforce on a site that covered 21 acres.

"Demolition of the mill buildings and some of the associated ancillary buildings to build the current student accommodation effectively wiped out the last traces of a business that was instrumental in Lancaster's industrial growth.

"LDHG would strongly urge that this remaining part of the city's industrial heritage is kept as much as possible intact, and that the current proposals for this building are rejected or amended accordingly."

The group also asked the council to put any future student housing developments on hold while they seek clarification of the occupancy levels in the city.

"LDHG appreciate the contribution made to Lancaster city life by its student population," they added.

"We do however question the benefit of 35 more beds when compared to retaining something of the city's rapidly disappearing heritage."