Consultation

Letter from Lancaster Council Regeneration Director John Donnellon to Cllr Jon Barry - 8 Aug 06

Dear Councillor Barry

CANAL CORRIDOR REPORT - COMPLAINT

I understand that the Chief Executive has replied to your letter of 24 July with regard to the information before Cabinet. He has also asked me to respond to your letter and the specific complaints contained within it.

In relation to the process adopted for dealing with the Canal Corridor, it is consistent with the way we have handled recent large development proposals. The Central Promenade site in Morecambe has been dealt with in the same way as the Canal Corridor in that Cabinet has defined an acceptable use or range of uses for the site in the Development Brief, which is then used to guide the detailed planning process and any negotiation with partners or developers. Cabinet has also been through a separate process to choose a development partner and to agree the Heads of Terms that would govern how the two partners would work together within the remit of the Development Brief. The report to Cabinet on 25 July regarding the Canal Corridor was the product of further detailed negotiations on the Heads of Terms resulting in a detailed development agreement for Cabinet to consider and either agree or not. This same process has been followed by the Council in dealing with Urban Splash on the Central Promenade site in Morecambe.

In the case of the Canal Corridor and the Central Promenade site, a masterplanning approach has been used to involve stakeholders and residents through consultation prior to any planning application being submitted. In both cases, the masterplanning process takes as its framework the Planning Development Brief that Cabinet has approved and adopted.

As far as the Canal Corridor is concerned, the masterplan process is progressing and the public consultation that has been part of that process will inform the final planning application which will be accompanied by a statement of community involvement. It is at this stage that the detail about retail impact and traffic, along with other planning matters, will be fully considered. The development agreement provides for a number of hurdles to be passed before it is enacted, the critical hurdle for the scheme being that a satisfactory planning approval is obtained. Without this, the development agreement between the Council and Centros Miller could not proceed.

These hurdles provide a level of control for the Council above and beyond that which can be exerted through the planning process. For example, as landlord for the scheme, the Council has the ability to approve all lettings subject to being reasonable through the letting policy which has as its starting point the requirement to attract new retail provision and not relocations from the existing town centre.

In terms of the details of the proposals being developed by Centros Miller, these will be subject to detailed consideration by Planning Committee and, provided they are consistent with the framework set down by Cabinet in the Development Brief, would not need to be referred back to Cabinet.

In one of your final points, you make reference to a survey of residents being made available to the Council. Having checked on this, I am confident that the Council had not received the results of the survey prior to Cabinet. In any event, the survey was a part of the masterplanning process leading to further public consultation and was available to the public as part of that process. The masterplanning process will ultimately lead to a planning application and was not intended to inform discussion about the development agreement. It is the case that the results of the survey have been used by Centros Miller in their presentations as they have progressed with the masterplan. All available information pertinent to the report was made available to Cabinet.

In the drafting of the development agreement to deal with the Council's land assets, every precaution has been taken to ensure the agreement limits risk to the Council and protects its wider interests. This development agreement can only come into force when the conditions within the agreement have been met.

John Donnellon
CORPORATE DIRECTOR (REGENERATION)

c.c. Chief Executive
Head of Planning Services
Head of Property Services
Forward Planning Manager, Planning Services