Ribbleton

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ribbleton is a suburb and ward of the city of Preston, in Lancashire, England. It is located to the east of the city centre, between the A59 New Hall Lane and the B6243 Longridge Road. The M6 motorway also runs through the area. The ward had a population of 7,351 recorded in the 2001 census.^[1]

Most of the area west of the M6 is residential, with the area to the east containing a large industrial estate and agricultural land. Preston cemetery is in the Ribbleton ward. Part of the suburb is in Brookfield ward, including the head office of the Booths supermarket chain and the former railway station, which was on the Preston and Longridge Railway.

1 Local government
2 Amenities
3 Council housing
4 Transport
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Local government

As of 2007, the ward of Ribbleton is held by three Labour councillors.

[edit] Amenities

Ribbleton has a library^[2], a number of shops and pubs, post offices and schools including City of Preston High School (previously Ribbleton Hall High School) which Lancashire County Council plans to turn into an Academy school.^[3]

[edit] Council housing

A number of council estates are located in the ward, including Moor Nook, Farringdon Park and Grange. In 2001, 37.65% of all households were in local authority housing, although this figure is down from almost 50% in 1991.^[1] The council sold its housing stock to the Community Gateway Association in 2005.^[4] Since then some houses in the area have been demolished,^[5] despite the housing crisis in Preston with over 4,000 families on a waiting list, and Community Gateway Association intending not to build any new homes until 2010.^[4]

[edit] Transport

Access to Preston is via the A59 or B6243 which are often congested. There is access to the M6 nearby at junctions 31 (Samlesbury) and 31A (Bluebell Way), although there is no access to or from the M6 north via junction 31A. Although the railway through Ribbleton no longer exists, there are frequent bus services provided by Preston Bus, as well as the Stagecoach route between Preston and Longridge and less frequent Stagecoach services. Recently there has been increased competition from Stagecoach including new local services, many of which duplicate Preston Bus services.