It's Our City - Centros Development

Latest News

Continuing Secrecy over Centros Plans - 23 June 2010

Following a recent request by It's Our City under the Freedom of Information Act, we have found that the culture of secrecy under which Lancaster City Council operates, continues to deny local taxpayers any meaningful information about ongoing negotiations concerning development of the canal corridor north site. A press release of June 1st stating that the city council "will be consulting with the communities of the district" appears to be an empty promise. Find out more about the details of our FOI request and its implications for public participation in the ongoing plans.

Press Release - 31 March 2010

Before our public meeting on 24th March, IOC were sent these proposals by the mediators. Reading between the lines, it seemed to us that Lancaster council still intended to pursue the Centros plans despite the fact that the public inquiry process had rejected them and we put forward this motion not to participate, which was voted on and passed unanimously at the meeting.

Since then we have found that our position was fully justified after discovering that Lancaster city council corporate regeneration director Heather McManus made it clear to supporters of the Centros plans as far back as February this year, that 80% of the Centros plan would not be up for discussion because in her opinion the planning inspector had already given it the go-ahead by not explicitly rejecting it.

The Lancaster Guardian did not print our subsequent press release of 31st March but this will come as no surprise when we remember that Tim Bowdler, former chief executive of Johnston Press PLC that owns the Lancaster Guardian is a non executive director of the Miller group that initially rode into town as Centros Miller. When Mr Bowdler retired from the Johnson Press last year after 15 years, leaving it with a debt of £465,000,000, Keith Miller, CEO of the Miller Group, said: “Tim is a very level-headed and supportive non-executive director. I’m sure if he is looking to build up some more directorships, he will be snapped up.”

You betcha Tim ! We're sure that LCC executives would welcome you with open arms. They only managed to lose a paltry £8,000,000 or so in the last 15 years, though they have been somewhat coy about the true figure as they say they do not keep records for more than 6 years.

Parliamentary Committee Report Slams Government Inaction on Air Quality - 22 March 2010

Chairman of the Environmental Audit Committee, MP Tim Yeo said "Air pollution probably causes more deaths than passive smoking, traffic accidents or obesity, yet it receives very little attention from Government or the media."

Despite the conclusions of this damning report, and the rejection of the Centros plans following the public inquiry, chief executive Mark Cullinan and his cabal of senior Lancaster Council officers continue to dismiss the proven risks to public health by their continued support for Centros's plans for a massive new retail development in the centre of Lancaster.

Read a summary on the parliament website Early Deaths from Air Pollution Shame UK or the full report.

Public Meeting Gregson Centre Main Hall - 24 March at 8pm

This meeting is to discuss the so-called mediation process that IOC amongst others has been invited to participate in. Lancaster Council have initiated this process to continue their promotion and support of developer Centros. However, the Centros plans were finally rejected by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in December last year primarily on heritage/conservation grounds.

IOC has always wanted a conservation led approach to developing this site. However there are other issues that still concern us, such as city-wide negative effects on public health due to increased traffic, which council officers assert have been settled by the inspector's report. We disagree on this and other issues and in the face of public statements by council officers in recent months that continue to support the Centros model of development, we question whether or not IOC can have any meaningful dialogue with the council and Centros when they are supporting the same kind of plan.

Centros have never compromised on their exclusively retail led model of development and show no signs of compromising now. With these, and other reservations in mind, we are holding the public meeting in order to hear our subscriber's views.

Come and have your say on the 24th March.

Old Brewery Listed - 2nd March 2010

The old brewery has now been given Grade II listed status as detailed in the following documents.

Mitchell's may appeal the listing decision, but for the moment the brewery is safe from the wrecker's ball if not from the arsonists. We now await publication of the conservation area review report by Lancaster Council.

Brewery Saga Escalates with Arson Attack - 27 Feb 2010

Early on saturday afternoon 27th Feb, the fire brigade was called to the old Mitchells brewery in Lancaster, following a report from a passer-by of smoke coming from the roof. Four youths had been seen entering the brewery complex and consequently the fire crew were obliged to enter the premises from the Edward Street entrance to ascertain whether there was anyone inside in danger.

A disturbing scene, of a kind that fire fighters dread, greeted the fire crew inside the premises; A storage space opening onto Edward St was filled with stacked pressurised beer barrels. The arsonists had set fire to scrap cardboard and wooden pallets that had been piled against the barrels in an apparent attempt to cause an explosion. Right opposite this entrance is the narrow strip of car park, the Heron chemical works and behind that, the Mill Hall students residence. It does not take a lot of imagination to see the potential consequences if the fire had not been reported and attended to so quickly.

The senior fire officer at the scene said it was fortunate that the arsonists had been amateurs or the outcome could have been very different. It is clear that the passer-by who reported the smoke has not only saved the brewery from a wanton act of destruction, but prevented what could have been a major incident involving significant loss of life.

Two questions loom large in this:

What is a roomful of pressurised beer barrels doing in an abandoned and derelict building?
How did the arsonists get in so easily given that Mitchells have made much recently of their obligation to prevent public access to what is a dangerous site.

Given the recent attempts by Mitchells to demolish the brewery and their rabid and proactive opposition to the imminent prospect of listed building status for it, we expect that Lancaster CID will pursue a robust and thorough inquiry and bring the perpetrators of this dangerous crime to justice.

Conservation Area Boundary Review Report - 17 Jan 2010

Following Lancaster Council’s suppression of the results of this long overdue study, we can now make the report public following our freedom of information request in December. The report is comprehensive and among other changes, recommends an extension of the city centre conservation area that would include the old Mitchells brewery.

Public Meeting Gregson Centre Main Hall

Tuesday 19th January at 8pm

The purpose of this meeting is to run through the main elements of the inspector's report which led to the Centros applications being dismissed by the Secretary of State following the public inquiry. Despite the Secretary of State's decision to refuse the plans, the council's latest press release shows that they are still treading the same sorry path and are determined to marginalise Lancaster residents in any new proposals for the canal corridor north site.

We need to discuss a positive way forward for the development of the site and we can only do this with your input so please mark this meeting in your diaries.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Other News

Lancaster council suppressed the conservation area review report that should have been released over a month ago. We have submitted a Freedom of Information request and should have the report by the time of the public meeting, however we already know that the report recommends preserving the old brewery and surrounding areas. This does not fit in with the council's plans and Mitchell's aspirations to demolish all the old buildings.

Secretary of State Christmas Cheer - 22 Dec 09

In a surprise pre-Christmas decision, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has given Lancaster the best Christmas present that we could hope for. On the recommendations of John Gray, the planning inspector who presided over the public inquiry, John Denham has given his decision earlier than the expected date of January 14th and has turned down the Centros proposals.

Here are links to the Secretary of States decision and the Inspectors Report.

A massive thank you to all who have stuck with the campaign against this scheme over the years and for everything you have done to support us. This victory belongs to the whole community.

In the New Year, we expect the Council to reassess their plans for the canal corridor north site in the light of this decision, so watch this space.

Tonight (Tuesday 22nd Dec) some of us will be meeting up in the Gregson Centre at around 8.00pm to celebrate. Everybody is most welcome to come and join us.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to All !

Lancaster Council Backtracks on Conservation Area Consultation - 10 Dec 09

If any further evidence is needed of vested interests subverting the aspirations of local residents, it is the council's abrupt halt of the Lancaster Conservation Area Appraisal consultation. In Lancaster Council's announcement, it is disingenuously suggested that the start of the public consultation will be delayed, but in fact the consultation has been underway for at least two months and IOC attended a workshop on 28th September as reported below. The public consultation questionnaire posted by the council now been removed.

Readers will be aware of Mitchell's sneaky attempts to demolish the brewery, hinder access to the site by English Heritage and generally thwart any attempts to save the brewery. Following SAVE's successful application for Judicial Review, it now seems that vested interests in the council are falling in behind Mitchell's in their determination to see the brewery demolished and don't wish to hear anymore about its inclusion within the city centre conservation area. To us, this looks like a blatant attempt to put the interests of Mitchell's above the local community. We do not believe the Council are following due democratic process and we expect more news on this soon.

Our Response to Mitchell's 'Open Letter' to the people of Lancaster - 08 Dec 09

Mitchell's Breweries recently distributed an open letter attacking It's Our City and local Green councillor John Whitelegg for opposing their attempts to demolish the old brewery buildings. Most of our supporters will already know of Mitchell's dismal record of looking after their vacant buildings; this is IOC's response.

The terms of Mitchell's open letter posted in the media and on various buildings around the city are almost beneath contempt. However, we feel that it is important to point out some factual 'inaccuracies' and omissions in the Mitchell's letter, for the record.

The campaign to save the brewery buildings from demolition is being organised by a group of local people. The campaign has its own website and is separate from Its Our City. SAVE Britain's Heritage is a bona fide charitable organisation which sets out to defend Britain's heritage from the actions of companies like Mitchell's and others who appear to be prepared to flog off any part of Britain's heritage over which they have control for a handful of magic beans.

The claim that Mitchell's make, to be 'extremely proud and respectful of the heritage of our city', is almost laughable. For example, if it were remotely true then they would not perhaps have given up their old brewery on Church Street for the skyline eyesore which is the Vue cinema. The Elms Hotel in Morecambe dates back to the 1890's but the building is older still. Owners Mitchell’s are having The Elms demolished to make way for yet more flats. Perhaps the starkest example is the fact that Mitchell's have allowed the Tramway pub on St Leonard Gate, which is listed, to literally fall apart through years of neglect. This is in fact what they have allowed to happen to the old Yates and Jackson Brewery on Brewery Lane which is now threatened with demolition. In short, they now claim that the dilapidation they themselves have allowed is a reason to demolish it.

It is no surprise that in their letter Mitchell's choose to regurgitate the PR that Centros itself promoted in favour of its scheme. Mitchell's would directly benefit financially to an undisclosed degree from the Centros scheme via the sale of its land and would benefit from new offices on Moor Lane which it secured for itself as part of the deal. A decision on the Centros scheme by the Secretary of State is due in January following the public inquiry this summer. IF it is granted permission then the scheme entails the demolition of the Brewery anyway, so why are Mitchell's in such a rush now you may ask? Simply to avoid either the listing of the building which would protect it or to circumvent the Conservation Area boundary review that is currently underway which might see the Brewery included in the newly defined Conservation Area. This process is actually costing public money which will have been largely wasted if Mitchell's is allowed to demolish the Brewery in advance of the report.

Actions speak louder than words. Mitchell's sole motivation is profit for itself and their open letter can only be seen in that context. Its claims and stated intentions are the scantiest of fig leaves designed to cover naked self-interest and few will be fooled by them.

Mitchell's Demolition Attempt Thwarted - 3rd Dec 09

Early yesterday, our strategically positioned observer spotted workmen removing the roof of the Mitchell's brewery and IOC immediately swung into action, passing the news to our supporters in Lancaster and contacting SAVE Britain's Heritage. Since then a group of local supporters have monitored activity at the site and we are now happy to report that SAVE has obtained a High Court injunction restraining Mitchell's from demolishing the brewery. More later.

Heysham-M6 Link Road Update - 2nd Nov 09

Lancashire County Council has now issued the Orders to proceed with the Heysham-M6 Link Road which include:

The Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) to acquire the land for the road
The Side Road Order (SRO) to alter, add to or block up local roads, bridleways and footpaths to allow it to be built.
A Transfer of Highways Order (THO) to permit the new slip roads to be transferred to the Department for Transport, when built.
A Connecting Roads Scheme to permit replacement of the entry and exit roads at M6 Junction 34 by a completely new layout of slip roads.
A Scheme to permit the bridge carrying the road over the Lancaster Canal

Any resident affected by this scheme, or opposed to it, may object to all five Orders. So too may people who travel locally and will be affected by the alterations to the local roads and rights of way.

Transport Solutions for Lancaster & Morecambe (TSLM) will be objecting, and you can find out more about how you can object to the scheme on the TSLM website. The cut off date for objection is 10th December 2009.

This may be your last opportunity to express your opposition to this massive road scheme that will affect the entire Lancaster/Morecambe area.

PLEASE OBJECT NOW.

If there are sufficient objections, there will need to be a Public Inquiry. The last Public Inquiry only gave a time-limited planning permission for the road, which only says that a road is an acceptable use of the land. It does not authorise building the road, nor determine the need for the road. Alternatives to the proposal can now be advanced.

Brewery News Update - 23rd Oct 09

Following Mitchell's notice to demolish the brewery, IOC submitted a further request to English Heritage for the brewery to be listed. We have learned to-day that this request has been granted and the case for listing the brewery will be re-opened.

SAVE Britain's Heritage have written a Judicial Review pre action protocol letter addressed to The Secretary of State, Mitchells, LCC, and the demolition contractors N+R Contractors.

Natural England (the government body which deals with wildlife crime) have confirmed that there has been no licence issued by Wildlife and Licensing, which is necessary before any demolition work could begin.

It is a crime to disturb bats without first having put into place any necessary mitigating measures to safeguard them. There is evidence of bat movements within the brewery and IOC have now reported this to the police wildlife crime officer.

Concerned residents gathered outside the brewery yesterday and gave an interview to the Lancaster Guardian. You can find out more on the Virtual Lancaster Blogspot.

Shame on Mitchells Breweries - 14th Oct 09

On Monday 12th October, local landowner Mitchells Breweries notified Lancaster Council of their intention to demolish the old Mitchells brewery under section 80 of the Building Act 1984. As the brewery is not listed or in a conservation area, Mitchells are legally within their rights as the owners.

The fate of the old brewery was at the centre of the recent Canal Corridor North Public Inquiry, and the application to demolish it comes during a consultation being conducted by Lancaster Council in conjunction with The Conservation Studio on the boundaries of the various conservation areas in Lancaster. These can be seen in this map of Lancasters conservation areas. The Mitchells brewery buildings are shown by the red box filled with red lines and are an important candidate for inclusion in the city centre conservation area outlined in dark blue on the map.

Mitchell's record of neglect of the historic buildings they own in Lancaster is well documented. For decades they have allowed the old brewery and other properties in the Stonewell area including a listed building on St Leonardsgate to fall into a state of neglect that has blighted the area.

It is thought by many that the old brewery and surrounding area with it's interesting street pattern and combination of old buildings behind Stonewell should be preserved and included in the city centre conservation area and it is baffling why this conspicuous landmark is missing from the original city centre conservation area when it's boundary touches the edge of it. If this mostly hidden area behind the Stonewell facade was sensitively regenerated, it would constitute a unique area in the heart of Lancaster that could perhaps support small enterprises. Anyone looking at the map is likely to wonder why there is a large jagged chunk missing from the mostly smooth boundary of the city centre conservation area.

As Lancaster Council have not yet completed the City's conservation area appraisal, Mitchell's could and should have waited until the Secretary of State's decision on the Canal Corridor North Public Inquiry and the publication of the conservation area appraisal. To do otherwise is an opportunistic act of cultural vandalism revealing Mitchell's contempt for the aspirations of the people of Lancaster to improve and preserve our cultural heritage.

Shame on Mitchell's Breweries. They are bankers in all but name !

Meanwhile, It's Our City has been in contact with Lancaster Council, English Heritage and SAVE to see what may be done and will keep you updated of further developments.

Conservation Areas Consultation - Sept 09

On 28th September, IOC attended a workshop held by 'The Conservation Studio' as part of the public consultation into a reappraisal of our conservation areas within the city. The Conservation Studio is an historic environment consultancy that has been appointed by Lancaster Council to carry out the consultation. We were asked for our favourite view across the city and to comment on the existing conservation areas, with a view to extending them. If you are interested you can find out more about this consultation on the council's web site . On the right hand menu you will find a copy of the questionnaire which you can use as a starting point for your comments.

IOC concentrated on the Bulk Ward area because other groups dealt with different parts of the city. Our current view is:

It would be desirable to have the canal, especially from Aldcliffe to the Shaw Street bridge/ or Aqueduct to be part of the conservation area. We would also include the cathedral. Moor Lane conservation area should be kept in as well. Moving down and westwards we would include the brewery area, Heron Mill, De Vitre , Shaw, Denis and Alfred and Phoenix Streets. Both sides of St Leonard's Gate and North Road (from Phoenix Street up to Rosemary Lane) We were undecided about the Bath Mill estate. Is it special? The view from it certainly is.

If you are interested in participating in the conservation area consultation you should send in your initial comments by email to The Conservation Studio or write to:
The Conservation Studio,
1 Querns Lane,
Cirencester,
GL7 1RL
or phone Eddie Booth at the Conservation Studio on 01285 642428

You can also email them to Lancaster City Council's Conservation Team or telephonethem on: 01524 582945

All comments should be submitted by Friday 16th October.

We have had a email from Eddie Booth which deals with the consultation that will take place after he has submitted his draft report, following on from your comments. Further consultation will take place early in the New Year. This will include an exhibition, a press launch, with council officers and Eddie in attendance.

This exercise must be seen as a positive step in the conservation of Lancaster as an historic city. IOC look forward to working with LCC officers and the Conservation Studio and we hope that this will send a strong message to developers who may wish to demolish our valued historic buildings to make way for more shops.

Planning Performance Agreements (PPA) Consultation - Sept 09

IOC were recently invited by Lancaster Council to comment on the proposals in their consultation version of their Charter for PPA's for major planning applications. The draft version of the charter can be found here. Anyone can comment so feel free if you want to.

Inspector's Report Update - Aug 09

The Planning Inspectorate has informed us that following the public inquiry and completion of the inspector's report, the Secretary of State will issue the decision on the Centros applications on or before 14 January 2010.

Now We Wait - 20th July 09

Our Closing Statement to the Planning Inspectorate was submitted on July 17th and we now await the inspector's report. Copies of all the documents we submitted are now posted in our inquiry archive.

The only other task left for IOC is to join the Inspector and others on a site visit which will take place on Tuesday 11th August at 11.30am. The people accompanying the Inspector on the site visit will be: Stephen Gardner, Senior Conservation Officer for Lancaster Council, Cathy Tuck from English Heritage, Will Palin from SAVE and Billy Pye from IOC.

Dick Follows of local cycling group Dynamo has produced an entertaining and well written inquiry diary. Dick sets both the scene and tone of the inquiry in a wry and picaresque manner when describing the scamps and baddies. He is particularly good when describing the participation of Lancaster citizens.

IOC Press Release - 7th July 09

You can find our latest press release here. We are currently busy with several loose ends following the adjournment of the public inquiry These include rebuttals of Lancaster Council rebuttals of our evidence, addendums of evidence to cover what we would have said in cross examination had Lancaster Council not pulled out, and closing statements that have to be submitted by July 17th.

The inspector will formally close the inquiry in writing later in the summer and will then write his report for the Seceretary of State giving his recommendations for the scheme. We do not expect the inspector's report until possibly Jan/Feb/ March next year.

Our webmaster is away for a week but in the following weeks we will be restructuring our web site to present an alternative vision for the canal corridor site.

State of Play - 26th June 09

To summarise the present situation, the Council has now fallen out with Centros and has withdrawn from the inquiry. This leaves English Heritage, SAVE and IOC to present evidence. However, since the Council has now withdrawn as a participant and only has an observer attending, they will not be able to cross examine.

The other parties will still present their evidence, because though we appear to have 'won', nobody wants to see another plan like this put forward by the Council. Since the intent of the Council in defending the plans was to justify their vision for the CCN site we want all the evidence to be fully taken into account and refusal to be based on that evidence. The inspector is still keen to hear what the public has to say about the scheme and at present we think the public session will be on Tuesday 30th June and Wednesday 1st July. If this changes we will update this page accordingly. For yesterday's news see Mark Rotherham's blog.

Inquiry Blog - 25th June 09

Apologies to our supporters for the lack of news since the inquiry started. We have all been extremely busy with the inquiry itself, however we are happy to welcome Mark Rotherham who will be writing our inquiry blog. Yesterday the Council's case more or less collapsed and today they will be presenting a position statement. Read Mark Rotherham's blog for more details.

Press Release - 15th June 09

We have just issued a press release calling on the government to change the rules relating to public inquiries concerning planning so that developers are compelled to appear and defend their own plans. So far, the non-appearance of developer Centros has resulted in the withdrawal of Allied Lancaster from the inquiry and has considerably complicated things as well as burdening the local taxpayer with the cost of defending the Centros plans.

We have also been told by the inspector that we will not be allowed to present our consultation evidence at the inquiry on the grounds that it is not relevant to the planning merits but we consider this grossly prejudicial to our case and contrary to national policy and we will be pursuing the matter further.

Workshop for Speakers at Public Inquiry - 11th June 09

We will be holding a workshop in the Gregson cinema on Thursday June 11th at 7.30 pm. The workshop is specifically for people who wish to speak at the inquiry. We are hoping to avoid repitition but cover all topics which we wish to bring to the attention of the inspector. We need your input and we do need to co-ordinate the statements which will be read out.

Proofs of Evidence Submitted - 20th May 09

The Proofs have now been submitted and can be found in our archive. Our next deadline is 9th June when we can submit rebuttals to evidence given in the Proofs of the developer (In this case Lancaster Council).

SAVE Special Event + Exhibition - 27th/28th May 09

Special Event

SAVE is sponsoring a special event " A new vision for the Canal Corridor - A presentation by Richard Griffiths" on Wednesday 27th May at the Storey Gallery on Meeting House Lane from 6.30 – 8pm. Admission is free and everyone welcome.

Richard Griffiths of Richard Griffiths Architects will present his ideas for for the conservation-led regeneration of the Canal Corridor site in Lancaster.

As well as discussing his vision for Lancaster, Richard will show and describe other successful conservation-led projects he has worked on in London and Oxford.

Richard has been commissioned by SAVE Britain’s Heritage to produce a new ‘high level’ scheme for the Canal Corridor site and will be appearing as one of SAVE’s expert witnesses at the forthcoming Public Inquiry in June.

There will be a question and answer session after the talk.

Exhibition

Richard’s plans and drawings will be available for viewing at the Storey on Thursday 28th May 11am – 5pm.

Allied Lancaster Regretfully Withdraws - 8th May 09

We are sad to learn that Allied Lancaster will not be attending the inquiry in person. Their letter to the Planning Inspectorate pointed out that they as well as other interested parties will not be able to thoroughly investigate the development proposals and the issues they raise because of the absence of Centros. They also said that the potential cost would be prohibitively expensive. As a result, they reluctantly decided that they will now object using a written submission rather than attend the inquiry in person.

News Update - 24th April 09

There was no transcript of the pre-inquiry meeting but you can find the inspectors notes of the meeting in our public inquiry archive. Though the notes do not mention it, we raised the issue of the three omitted applications mentioned in our blog entry of April 3rd but the inspector said that it was not within his remit to consider these in any way since they had not been called in by GONW. To clarify this, they were not called in because our council did not refer them to GONW for consideration by the Secretary of State.

We were surprised to receive official confirmation that those responsible for air quality in Lancaster have never considered the effect of the Centros development on local air quality despite the 500 extra parking spaces in the proposed 800 space multi-storey car park and the planned major roadworks. However, things are not what they seem. Read more in our latest blog entry.

Centros Campaigners Not Guilty - 15th April 09

Four Lancaster residents who made a peaceful protest at the Centros London HQ have been acquitted of aggravated trespass. See more on the Virtual Lancaster Blogspot.

IOC Public Meeting at Gregson Community Centre Wednesday 22nd April 8pm

This meeting in the Gregson main hall is to give an update on what is going on in the increasingly surreal world of Lancaster City Council and to report on the pre-inquiry meeting. We will open the meeting with a couple of short reports which will be followed by questions/discussion.

Pre-Inquiry Meeting (PIM) at 2pm on 20th April

The pre-inquiry meeting will be held on Monday 20th April at 2pm in Lancaster Town Hall. The purpose of the PIM is to help the Inspector and the participants to prepare for the inquiry proper, and so enable the proceedings to be conducted as efficiently and speedily as possible. See our recent blog for more details. The meeting is open to interested members of the public so if you are free to attend if you want to.

Public Inquiry Announced - 3rd April 09

We have now been notified by the Planning Inspectorate that the inquiry will be held at 10am on Tuesday 16 June at Lancaster Town Hall in Dalton Square. The venue will be reserved for 12 days.

We are currently aiming to get three other Centros applications called in which the council failed to refer to GONW as part of the call-in process. One of these applications is the residential development at the north end of the CCN site which according to the council's own '2006 Air Quality Further Assessment' would risk an extension of the Air Quality Management Area where Nitrogen Dioxide levels are excessive. If you would like any further information see our latest blog entry which gives a full explanation of why the AQMA risks spreading. Our webmaster will be away for while so please contact IOC using our contact page if you want to know more.

The latest blog entry also gives an update on the contentious issue of our council spending local taxpayers money to support a a private company registered for tax avoidance purposes in the British Virgin Islands.

We will be holding a public meeting in the Gregson on Wednesday 22nd April as an update/ question and answer session which will probably be at 8pm but we will post the time in due course.

News Update - 21st March 09

Apologies to our supporters for the lack of recent news. A lot has happened in the last few weeks and we have now started our inquiry blog to keep you informed of progress. We have sent our statement of case to the planning inspectorate and though we have not yet been officially informed, the planning inspectorate has said that the inquiry has been fixed to start on 16 June 2009. This means that our next milestone is submission of our proof of evidence by May 19th. You can see our statement of case and those of other main participants in our archive.

On 11th March, Centros announced that they will not be defending their scheme at the public inquiry and expect Lancaster City Council to defend it for them using council taxpayers money. We have written to all city councillors asking them to reconsider their position in light of Centros pulling out and we hope that as many people as possible write to their local councillors to raise the same point.

We are also concerned that three Centros outline applications have been excluded from the inquiry because the council has convinced GONW that they were not dependent on the main application. Excluding these three applications is bound to affect any alternative future development of the CCN site if the main Centros plans are rejected by the public inquiry. Since SAVE is actively investigating alternative development options for the site using an architect more sympathetic to the historic fabric of the city (as this sketch of a possible Brewery Square shows), we feel it would be folly not to include them. We show how these applications are connected to the main application in our inquiry blog and it would help a great deal if you would email GONW to complain about the fact that they have been excluded from consideration. You can find contact details here under the heading 'What you can do now'.

Here are a few media reports of interest.

Architect and developer decline to defend Lancaster scheme at inquiry - Building Design website article of 13 March, 2009.

Shop, horror - same old story - article by Andy Yuille (CPRE NW Regional Policy Officer). March 2009

War of Words Erupts over Lancaster Plans 18th March 2009 article on the Bay Radio website.

Fundraising Appeal - 16th Feb 09

Lancaster City Council have set aside £50,000 of council tax payers' money to support the Centros development at the public inquiry and they and Centros will be represented by barristers and paid professional experts in an effort to foist this scheme on the city.

At this stage we do not expect to engage legal representation and will represent ourselves. However, the costs of printing 4 copies of every document (some of which run to hundreds of pages) makes it necessary for us to put out this appeal. An initial estimate of printing costs alone comes to between £1500 and £2000.

So far, we have operated on a shoestring and the dedication of our volunteers, but we urgently need funds to make an effective case at the inquiry. We now have a bank account, so please consider making a donation, however small, to help us raise the funds necessary.

You can:

Make cheques out to "It's our City" and post them to It's Our City, 3 Alfred Street, Lancaster, LA1 1QN
Use the Donate button beneath the right hand side submenus on this page and on our public inquiry pages to make a donation via PayPal.
You can also give cash donations in person via the Alfred Street address above.

If you have recently looked at our website, please be sure to click the reload/refresh button in your web browser if you cannot see the new PayPal Donate buttons.

Unconfirmed Rumours of Centros Withdrawal - 13th February 09

Following news items in the Lancaster Guardian and the Visitor, an impression has been given that Centros may pull out of the canal corridor north development. Doyen of deception Steve Bryson, who represents the public face of Centros, will no doubt be rubbing his hands together in glee.

As the Road Sense campaign press release of Feb 10th this year shows, major stakeholders in a development appear able to break public inquiry rules on document submission deadlines without fear of penalty. It is quite possible that Centros may fail to meet their February 26th deadline for submitting their case to the Planning Inspectorate, but this does not necessarily mean that they have given up or will be unable to appear at the inquiry. Public objectors on the other hand have not been allowed late submissions so we strongly urge people to send in their letters to the Planning Inspectorate as explained on our Writing to the Planning Inspectorate page .

IOC Subscribers Meeting - Gregson Centre - 26th January 8pm

The aim of this meeting is to develop a plan to prepare for the forthcoming public inquiry.

Members of the IOC strategy group, Cllr John Whitelegg and David Gate of Transport Solutions for Morecambe and Lancaster will educate us on various issues to do with public inquiries including questions such as, "What is a public inquiry?", " Do we need legal representation?", " What we can do pre inquiry?" and so on.

We will also be looking for subscribers to take on responsibility for particular areas which need to be covered e.g research and reports, the legal aspects etc etc.

We hope you will take the time to attend this important pre inquiry meeting.

Country Life Article on Centros Development - 10th November 08

Architect Ptolemy Dean slams the Centros development in this article Lancaster Lunacy from Country Life. Thanks to Country Life for allowing us to reproduce this article. For anyone interested, the Country Life subscription number is 0845 1231231

Centros Deal May Contravene EU Law on Competition for Public Works

This article from Property Week should serve as a reminder to the Council that they may be risking an expensive legal challenge if they do not reconsider Centros' preferred developer status.