No Further Forward Without Facts!

It's Our City are holding a series of public events to inform local people about the important decision to be made by Lancaster City Council Cabinet on 25th July regarding the future of the Canal Corridor north site. On that date Cabinet will decide whether to sign a development agreement which would allow developers Centros Miller to proceed with a detailed planning application.

These events include a stall in the city centre on Saturday 8th July, a public meeting in the Town Hall at 7.30pm on Monday 10th July, and an alternative planning meeting in the Gregson at 7.30pm on 18th July.

It's Our City is calling on the Cabinet not to allow Centros Miller to proceed with a detailed planning application due to the lack of publicly available information about the development. The only piece of detailed information provided to date is that there will be a new Debenhams department store on the site, which will be considerably larger than the store in Preston.

Centros Miller have failed to provide genuine information on how the extra traffic generated by this development will be dealt with. Billy Pye of It's Our City asks 'How on earth will the city cope with the thousands of extra vehicles generated by this development? Do we really want Lancaster to become one big gridlock?'

Centros Miller have also failed to provide evidence that the development will not have a destructive impact on existing city centres in Lancaster and Morecambe. It seems inevitable that the development will compete with existing retailers, and could drive many out of business. Local resident Cal Giles says 'Market traders in particular are terrified that this will be the final nail in the coffin for Lancaster Market. It will rip the heart out of Lancaster'.

In addition, Centros Miller have failed to conduct genuine consultation on what local people would like to see done with this site. A consultation conducted in 2003 demonstrated that local people would like to see the area developed as a cultural quarter, affordable housing to be built, space for small retail units and a city park. Instead, Centros Miller plan to build massive retail units and a giant multi-storey car park.

It's Our City are disappointed that despite detailing these issues in an open letter to all City and County Councillors, the vast majority have failed to respond to these vital concerns.

It's Our City is calling on the Cabinet to act according to the wishes of local people and in the interests of the city as a whole. Lancaster City Council must not to go any further forward with this development unless and until concrete and detailed information is provided by Centros Miller on the above issues.