News

Public invited to open consultation meetings on masterplan for Canal Corridor North site

Centros, Lancaster City Council’s preferred developer for the Canal Corridor North site, has announced the times of four open meetings next week for both the public and local interest groups to learn about the progress of the scheme and comment on the proposed masterplan - the plan which sets out the main principles of the development.

At the meetings, members of Centros’s development team will present their work to date on the masterplan, showing 3-D sketches for the first time and illustrating how the transport issues might be resolved. These meetings will also offer the general public and local interest groups an opportunity to provide feedback on the main elements of the masterplan - what goes where on the site, the thoroughfares, access, the location and relative sizes of all the buildings.

The consultation meetings will take place in the Banqueting Suite of Lancaster Town Hall as follows:

David Lewis, Associate Director of Centros, comments: “We feel that engaging the public and maintaining a good dialogue with local people is key to the delivery of a successful development.

“In this third round of consultation, we have changed the format of our meetings to encourage more members of the general public to attend, as well as all the key interest groups that are already involved – such as the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce and the Civic Society as well as the local residents group, It’s Our City.

“Not only will these sessions give everyone the opportunity to get up to date on the scheme and have their say, they will also help us to gain valuable feedback, explain the key issues and respond to any concerns that people may have about aspects of the proposed development.”

During the past few months, Centros’s transport consultants have been surveying Lancaster’s traffic and have fed all the data gained into the County Council’s computer traffic model of the city to bring it fully up to date. Their presentation at the consultation meetings will include a working illustration of the traffic model to demonstrate traffic flows and how suitable access to the site may be achieved.

As the masterplan process concludes, Centros’s development team will soon move on to the preparation of the eventual planning application. This will involve the detailed architectural design of all the buildings and all the consequent work to produce the necessary transport, retail and environmental impact assessments that will be part of the application - which is expected to be submitted early in the New Year 2007. Much more consultation will follow during this phase - including a public exhibition, widespread leaflet drops and further meetings with all the local interest groups.

22nd May 2006