Stop moaning and help make Carlisle great again, Renaissance critics told
Last updated 17:20, Friday, 20 February 2009

Critics of Carlisle’s Renaissance plans should stop moaning and focus on helping the city claim its rightful place among England’s greatest historic cities, says the man leading the scheme.

Bryan Gray yesterday mounted a spirited defence of the at-times controversial attempt to revitalise the city.

He spoke out after some commentators accused the team involved in the project of achieving no visible benefits, despite it costing nearly £2 million over four years.

Most of that money has been spent on buying in the expertise of private consultants.

Cumbria County Council leader Stewart Young suggested this week that more use should have been made of in-house experts already employed by the authority and by Carlisle City Council. He said there had been a lack of “joined-up thinking” between Carlisle city and Cumbria county councils.

The Renaissance scheme was launched in the wake of the 2005 floods. It aimed to revitalise Carlisle, generating jobs and giving the city “wow factor”, according to the then Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.

Yet, after four years, not a single brick has been laid.

But Mr Gray, appointed chairman of Carlisle Renaissance last May, is determined to see the city recognised as one of England’s pre-eminent historic centres.

He said: “Carlisle is underachieving. It has great assets and should be seen as one of this country’s major cities, alongside Durham, York, Lincoln and Norwich.

“You can look at a range of cities which have more vibrant tourism economies, based on heritage. Carlisle has a better heritage but it is still underachieving and we have to put that right and we have to look at the city’s historic quarter.

“I make no apology for the fact that we are doing things methodically and properly.

“I don’t think we had enough focus to start with, but that was recognised and now we have put that right, and we have reached an exciting stage.”

Mr Gray said he was puzzled that people would want to criticise Carlisle Renaissance.

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Mr Gray said: “We need to stop this self-flagellation. Carlisle Renaissance was reformed less than a year ago because it needed tighter direction and sharper focus. I see no point in people wanting to criticise the past.

“There was a recognition that more focus was required and that has been put in place. I find it very unhelpful and negative that people want to forget we have taken that action. I’m puzzled that people want to be critical when they are part of the solution.

“Let’s stop all this – it doesn’t help anyone and it’s harming Carlisle and Cumbria.

“What’s the point in giving the impression that we’re just arguing amongst ourselves? It’s absolutely pointless. What we should be doing is pointing out the benefits to the UK of investing in Cumbria.”

Mr Gray went on to defend the practice of paying for help from outside experts.

He said: “If properly used, they have huge value because you’re buying expertise.

“There’s no way you could create a [new] campus for the University of Cumbria without doing a lot of preparation on issues such as environmental conditions and land contamination. These are huge, complex projects, which will live with us for half a century or more.

“You have to get it right.”

Mr Gray said that even if the Renaissance project were to achieve just that one thing – persuading university bosses to build a new HQ in the city – it would justify all the work it had done. That’s the most important thing to happen in Carlisle and Cumbria for a generation.”

Mr Gray repeated his belief that the project needs to address the city’s historic quarter, including Carlisle Castle, the Cathedral, West Walls, and the Citadel railway station.

The castle also needs in some way to be reconnected to the rest of the city.

Carlisle City Council leader Mike Mitchelson also defended the project, saying: “Carlisle Renaissance is not just about buildings.

“It’s a 10-to-15-year agenda, and a lot of work has been done in these early stages.”

He pointed to planning work, and work with local retailers promoting the city as a Christmas shopping venue and helping to create a Retail Academy to boost skills within that economic sector.

Mr Young said it was clear that something had gone wrong with the Renaissance scheme, and suggested there was insufficient cooperation between the area’s two tiers of local government.

“Some of the consultants’ work has not been good value,” he said.

There has also been criticism from the Save Our Streets Campaign chairman Neil Irving, whose group successfully fought plans to bulldoze much of Rickergate as part of a now-shelved Renaissance redevelopment.

“Nowadays, it seems to be the case that they can’t sneeze without getting a consultant on board,” he said.

Critics question the abortive Rickergate scheme, and the purchase, paid for by Renaissance funding partner the North West Development Agency (NWDA), of the area’s Adriano’s restaurant for £775,000 and 8 Warwick Street for £125,000. The future of both buildings remains unclear.

Mr Gray holds several high-profile roles, including chairmanship of the NWDA, and chairmanship of the Churches Trust for Cumbria.

Taken from The News & Star / [Link] / [Back to top]

Carlisle Renaissance: Not one brick laid but £2 million spent
Last updated 13:12, Wednesday, 18 February 2009

A visionary plan to transform Carlisle which remains on the drawing board after four years has already cost nearly £2 million.

Most of the cash already spent on Carlisle Renaissance – £1,262,000 – was used to hire private consultants, the News & Star has learned.

Yet four years after the floods that inspired the scheme, which was meant to generate jobs and give Carlisle the “wow factor,” not a single brick has been laid.

Officials insist that their work has already had a positive effect on the city.

But Cumbria County Council leader Stewart Young criticised the scheme’s lack of progress, saying more work should be done by local authority experts rather than expensive consultants.

The mounting costs were revealed following a Freedom of Information Request.

The figures show that since 2005, Renaissance officials have shelled out £1,922,696. Of that amount, £641,419 has gone on wages and a further £19,015 on expenses.

Yet the scheme has been widely criticised for lacking focus and for problems including:

The shelving of the redevelopment of Rickergate after campaigning by residents and resulting uncertainty over the purchase of Adriano’s restaurant for £775,000 and 8 Warwick Street for £125,000;

The ever-widening scope of the Renaissance vision;

Dithering over controversial plans to remove unnecessary traffic for Carlisle’s historic core.

Mr Young said: “It’s extremely frustrating.

“It’s just over four years since the floods and this scheme, as the name suggests, aimed to renew the city. So far we’ve seen virtually nothing to emerge out of it, despite the significant amount of money that’s been spent.

“Clearly something has gone wrong.”

He suggested there had been a lack of co-operation between Carlisle City Council and Cumbria County Council and cited the Renaissance plan to remove “unnecessary” traffic from the area around Carlisle Cathedral and Tullie House as an example of that.

The city council put the scheme on ice before Christmas because of opposition from local businesses. But they decided on Tuesday that they now want to press ahead with the scheme after more consultation.

“There’s been a lack of joined up thinking between the two tiers of local government,” Mr Young said.

“We should be using more in-house expertise. Some of the consultants’ work has not been good value.”

Neil Irving is chairman of the Save Our Streets Campaign, which campaigned successfully against Renaissance development plans which including bulldozing much of the Rickergate area.

He said: “It’s a ridiculous amount of money and they’ve little to show for it.

“Over the years there we’ve had schemes like the Sands Centre, and the Lanes, which were all done in house.

“Nowadays, it seems to be the case that they can’t sneeze without getting a consultant on board.”

But Ian McNichol, programme director for Carlisle Renaissance, said: “I don’t think Carlisle Renaissance can be judged on just its bricks and mortar content.”

He said £600,000 was spent on buying in expertise, including some who offered business support, particularly in the tourism sector.

Part of the effort was to get more visitors into the city, particularly over Christmas. He also cited the Retail Academy scheme, again supporting business in Carlisle.

“The idea is to help businesses grow,” he said.

He said Carlisle Renaissance had also produced positive results in economic strategy, helping lift government restrictions on development based on outdated population figures.

Mr McNichol said the Renaissance team also helped persuade the University of Cumbria to press ahead with plans for a new city centre campus costing around £80 million. Work on the new base will begin this year.

City council leader Mike Mitchelson said the authority only contributed £300,00 a year to the Renaissance team.

The campus, on land alongside the River Caldew, is now a top priority for the Carlisle Renaissance board. Its other priorities are: maximising the potential of the city’s historic quarter and its key assets; delivering major new employment sites on the M6 corridor; and strengthening the mix of retail, office and ancillary uses in the city centre.

Taken from The News & Star / [Link] / [Back to top]

Carlisle traffic ban scheme may be scrapped
Last updated 14:30, Tuesday, 10 February 2009

An £840,000 Carlisle Renaissance scheme to remove “unnecessary” traffic from the area around the cathedral and Tullie House may be scrapped.

Carlisle City Council has been forced to rethink the plans after Cumbria County Council refused its request to ban disc parking between Greenmarket and the castle.

The proposals provoked an outcry from businesses worried they would lose trade if on-street parking was lost.

Now the city council may drop the scheme altogether.

A report to its executive, which meets on Monday, outlines four options.

These include scrapping the proposals or deferring them until an “overall vision” is in place.

The executive could opt to go ahead as planned – although it would have to persuade the county council to issue the necessary traffic orders – or it could alter the proposals to take account of objections.

Suggestions include keeping some or all of the disc-parking spaces, adding disabled spaces in St Mary’s Gate or Fisher Street, and waiving the restrictions on Sundays.

The report says: “Dependant upon the degree of change, the overall aim of the project may not be fully achieved, ie, removing unnecessary traffic from the area.

“The introduction of changes would show a positive response to objectors and potentially solicit greater engagement in the future of the area.

“However, implementing changes may appease existing objectors but create others.”

The scheme also involves closing West Walls to through traffic and widening pavements in front of the cathedral in Castle Street, relaying them with Lazonby sandstone flags.

Work should have started last year but the county council’s Carlisle local committee referred the scheme back to the Renaissance board and the city council because there were so many objections.

Disabled drivers complained that, although there would be more disabled spaces, these would be further away from the city centre.

Three religious establishments raised concerns about the lack of parking for worshippers on Sundays.

And some shops claimed that scrapping one-hour disc parking spaces could drive customers away and so put them out of business.

Taken from The News & Star / [Link] / [Back to top]