Public Health

Green Party Press Release

Lancaster and District Green Party Press Release
26th July 2006

Black Tuesday: Cabinet ignores results of public consultation, ignores strong community opposition, ignores financial risks and approves a deal with Centros Miller.

Yesterday’s cabinet meeting in Morecambe Town Hall approved the deal with Centros Miller to deliver a retail dominated development on the canal corridor.

Cabinet member and green party councillor Jon Barry proposed that the deal should not go ahead because insufficient information had been given to cabinet members to assess the development proposals. This proposal was not supported and nor was Cllr Barry’s proposal to triple the size of the green space, create a new youth facility and halve the size of the retail space.

Jon Barry said:

'The meeting was one of the most farcical I have been involved with on the Council. Council officers failed to provide councillors with the information they needed to make an informed decision. It was clearly evident that several of the councillors had very little idea of what the make-up of the proposed scheme was. Councillors have voted to hand over control of their land for 250 years to an offshore development company. Quite frankly, the people of Lancaster have been sold down the river. And the people in Morecambe will suffer as shopping facilities in their town drain away still further'

Councillor John Whitelegg spoke against the development on grounds that no information was provided on public consultation, that there was no proper assessment of Centros Miller’s plan, that the development could lead to a massive increase in traffic and because of the financial risks associated with the deal. Because of council rules on “exempt items” Councillor Whitelegg is not allowed to discuss what these financial risks are and members of the public are not allowed to know what they are.

Speaking today Councillor Whitelegg said:

“This was black Tuesday. Cabinet decided to proceed with a major development that exposes the Council to substantial financial risks and will add thousands of extra cars each day on our congested roads. To add insult to injury members of cabinet made this decision in the complete absence of the results of a household public consultation. This contradicts Council policy and is a snub to local residents”

The debate could still continue if the cabinet’s decision is “called-in”. Green councillors will be attempting to get the necessary signatures to make this happen. However given Labour and LibDem support for this plan, they will be looking to Morecambe councillors for support.

Ends
For more information contact
Jon Barry on 844113
John Whitelegg on 63175