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Worth conserving? Issues raised by work done for Carlisle Renaissance, including reports on the development of an historic core and campaigns to save the former Lonsdale Cinema building and parts of Rickergate, have prompted a review of existing boundaries. They could now be widened to include the magistrates’ court buildings because of their “significant townscape value”. A report, drawn up by council development director Catherine Elliot and considered by the city council’s executive on Thursday, said the existing city centre zone should be extended to cover Warwick Street, the fire station, former police station, magistrates’ court and Adriano’s restaurant. All the buildings, along with the Civic Centre, are earmarked to go under a Carlisle Renaissance scheme. The council wants to flatten them to make way for a plaza with shops and offices, and a hotel. But even if they were included in the conservation zone, a council spokesman said that such action would not preclude redevelopment or regeneration but would add a significant element, which the council must consider. Ray Bloxham, the Conservative councillor responsible for the city’s environment and infrastructure, said it was an opportune time to look at the conservation area. A public consultation will now get underway with the views gathered reported back to councillors. If appropriate, recommendations to alter the city centre conservation area boundary will also be made. An attempt to get buildings in Rickergate listed was turned down by Culture Minister Margaret Hodge, although a request to list the fire station and fire station houses is still under review. Putting them in a conservation area would be seen as a victory by Save Our Streets, the group campaigning against demolition. The city centre conservation area was last reviewed in 1986. It covers the area from the castle to Court Square, including English Street and part of Lowther Street. Mrs Elliot says it should be extended to include Bitts Park; much of Viaduct Estate; Victoria Viaduct and Citadel station; the former Lonsdale Cinema in Warwick Road; the area between Lonsdale Street and Warwick Road; The Lanes and the area between Lowther Street and Georgian Way. Taken from The News & Star / [Link] / [Back to top] ‘Give us an elected mayor’ Simon Osman, the Save Our Streets campaigner who stood as an independent in the city council elections on May 1, believes a directly elected mayor could help their cause. The group is fighting Carlisle Renaissance plans to demolish homes in Rickergate to make way for a plaza with shops, offices and hotel. Mr Osman said: “I would certainly be in favour of a directly elected mayor. “What the last year or 18 months of our campaign has shown is that the public at large don’t have a voice.” At present, the mayor of Carlisle is largely a ceremonial role. But a directly elected mayor would have much greater powers. In effect, he or she would replace the council leader who is selected not by voters but by other councillors. Rather than putting decisions to a discussion and vote, elected mayors have the freedom to act within a policy framework set by the council. Ministers introduced the concept in 2000 and there are now more than a dozen including Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Doncaster and Stoke. The system can be introduced only after a referendum triggered by the council or if five per cent of the electorate – 4,163 voters in Carlisle – sign a petition demanding one. City councillor and would-be Conservative MP John Stevenson believes the idea would galvanise voters. Former Carlisle mayor Judith Pattinson is also a fan but city council leader Mike Mitchelson, whose role would vanish, is against the idea. Elected mayors need not be party politicians. In Hartlepool, for example, football team mascot H’Angus the monkey was elected. Taken from The News & Star / [Link] / [Back to top] Conservation status for Rickergate area? The move would not prevent redevelopment but would make it more difficult. A new report says the existing city-centre conservation area should be extended to cover Warwick Street, the fire station, former police station, magistrates’ court and Adriano’s Restaurant. All these buildings, along with the Civic Centre, are earmarked to go under a Carlisle Renaissance scheme. The city council wants to flatten them to make way for a plaza with shops and offices, and a four-star hotel. The report, drawn up by council development director Catherine Elliot, says: “Extending the conservation area to take in the magistrates’ court group of buildings is worthy of consideration as these have significant townscape value.” The city-centre conservation area was last reviewed in 1986. It covers the area from the castle to Court Square, including English Street and part of Lowther Street. Mrs Elliot says it should be extended to include: Bitts Park; Much of Viaduct Estate, to ensure future redevelopment is “sensitive”; Victoria Viaduct and Citadel station; The former Lonsdale Cinema in Warwick Road; The area between Lonsdale Street and Warwick, including the Crown Court; The Lanes and the area between Lowther Street and Georgian Way. Her recommendations go to the council’s executive next Thursday May 29 and will be subject to public consultation before a final decision is taken. Taken from The News & Star / [Link] / [Back to top] £75,000 a year to continue in Renaissance
post Ian McNichol, 41, joined Carlisle City Council on a three-year secondment from regeneration consultants David Taylor Associates. He was due to leave this autumn but will now stay put with the new title of Renaissance programme director. Instead of working for the council, he will answer to the 12-person board about to take control of Renaissance from the city and county councils. He takes up the post on July 1. City council chief executive Maggie Mooney said: “Ian is a highly experienced and capable practitioner who is committed to our vision.“He has worked with us from its beginning and it is fitting that he should play a leading role in realising our ambitions for Carlisle.” Mr McNichol, a father of two, has lived in Carlisle for four years. He is married to Andrea, daughter of local businessman John Pattison, and has worked in regeneration since 1988. He was chosen as a programme director by a panel made up of representatives of the city and county councils, Cumbria Vision and the Northwest Development Agency. Mr McNichol said: “Carlisle is entering a new era. It has tremendous potential for economic growth. “The challenge now is to fulfil this potential, harnessing the skills and resources of the public and the private sector to bring about Renaissance.” Renaissance was launched as a response to the 2005 floods. It centres on major redevelopments of Rickergate and Viaduct Estate, which will become the HQ of the University of Cumbria. Mr McNichol will lead a Renaissance team including three development managers and an urban designer, some of whom are already in place. Total funding for the team is £750,000 a year, paid for in large part by the Northwest Development Agency. Meanwhile, Carlisle MP Eric Martlew has criticised the make-up of the new Renaissance board. The 12 members, six each from the public and private sectors, include Kingmoor Park boss Brian Scowcroft, Hooper’s general manager Victoria Farley, Chris Carr of the University of Cumbria, John Nixon of Carlisle United and CN Group chief executive Robin Burgess. Mr Martlew says that only one of the 12, county council-appointee Cyril Weber, lives in the urban area of Carlisle. “Renaissance is basically about the urban area,” the Labour MP said. “Not to have people on the board who live there and experience it is beyond belief, Other people are imposing solutions on the people of Carlisle.” he said. He wants a rethink of the board’s membership and will take up the issue with its chairman, Bryan Gray, who visits Carlisle today. Taken from The News & Star / [Link] / [Back to top] Revealed: The 12 people who will reshape our
city The Cumberland News can today reveal the make-up of the 12-person board that will take control of Renaissance from the city and county councils. Chairing the board is Bryan Gray, chairman of the Northwest Development Agency. He is the former head of heating appliances manufacturer Baxi Technologies and is credited with turning around the fortunes of Preston North End Football Club as its chairman from 1994 to 2001. Five more private-sector representatives include Robin Burgess, chief executive of CN Group, the parent company of The Cumberland News, and Chris Carr, vice-chancellor of the University of Cumbria. The others are Brian Scowcroft, chairman and owner of Kingmoor Park Properties, former Pirelli boss John Nixon – now managing director of Carlisle United – and Victoria Farley, general manager of Hoopers department store. Mr Gray will be paid £12,000 a year but the other non-executive board members are giving their time free of charge. City council leader Mike Mitchelson said: “I am absolutely delighted that Bryan Gray has agreed to be chairman. “He was instrumental in establishing the University of Cumbria. He was the one driving the amalgamation of higher-education campuses. “He will give Carlisle Renaissance a profile.” Mr Mitchelson added: “Carlisle Renaissance is moving to the next stage. A lot of work has been done and the building blocks are in place. The Renaissance board will give a clear focus.” Renaissance was launched by the then deputy prime minister John Prescott as a response to the 2005 floods. It centres on major redevelopments of Rickergate and Viaduct Estate, which will become the headquarters of the University of Cumbria. Opposition Labour councillors and Save Our Streets campaigners have expressed concerns that handing over Renaissance to a board dominated by the private sector would lead to a loss of accountability. Mr Mitchelson denied that was the case. He said: “The board will draw up an action plan that will have to be approved by the city and county councils. Therefore the board will be working to a plan approved by elected councillors.” The Renaissance board is completed by six public-sector representatives. These include county councillors Tony Markley and Cyril Weber, respectively the cabinet member for economic development and chairman of the Carlisle local committee. The city council’s representatives will be confirmed after its annual meeting a week on Monday but they are likely to be Mr Mitchelson and Marilyn Bowman, the executive member for economic development. Roger Liddle, chairman of Cumbria Vision, and Ian Haythornthwaite, executive director of resources at the Northwest Regional Development Agency, complete the high-powered line-up. The private-sector representatives have been appointed for three years and were chosen from 26 applications by a panel made up of Mr Mitchelson, Mr Liddle and Mr Markley. Mr Gray has a holiday home in the Eden Valley and it is understood that he now plans to live there full time. He said: “This is a tremendous challenge and I am excited about the prospect of leading such a high-calibre and committed board through an exciting period of change for Carlisle. “There are already signs of the renaissance of Carlisle – the university, two new academy schools, the Northern Development Route and of course the flood defences.” Mr Gray has led the Northwest Regional Developments Agency for six years. He steps down later this year. He is a former chairman of the Confederation of British Industry (North West) and was awarded the MBE for services to regeneration. Mr Gray even has his own website www.bryangray.co.uk. It displays the Gray family coat of arms and motto, “Be thou my vision”. Carlisle MP Eric Martlew hopes that Mr Gray will live up to the motto. The Labour MP has criticised the slow pace of Renaissance but welcomed Mr Gray’s arrival. He said: “I think Bryan Gray will be a good choice because of his experience, his contacts and he is known as a visionary. If anything needs vision it is Carlisle Renaissance.” Meanwhile Mr Burgess, whose family has been involved in Cumbrian Newspapers since 1867, has explained his reasons for joining the Renaissance board. “I am very committed to seeing Cumbria and Carlisle improve its economic position and to lead the north west in performance levels,” he said. “I hope my experience in business, my involvement in Cumbria Vision and in many aspects of local life will be beneficial in helping move forward the economic development of Carlisle.” The identity of a £75,000-a-year programme director, to lead the Renaissance team and answer to the board, will be revealed next week. Taken from The News & Star / [Link] / [Back to top] Council buys its first Renaissance properties The city council has acquired Adriano’s restaurant for £775,000 and 8 Warwick Street for £125,000 as the plan to redevelop Rickergate begins in earnest. The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) has funded both purchases. City council leader Mike Mitchelson described the deals as a “significant step” in the Renaissance project. Adriano’s owner Franco Bertoletti has signed a three-year lease to rent the building and will continue trading as a tenant of the council. The occupier of 8 Warwick Street also becomes a city council tenant. Both deals were completed on March 31. Mr Mitchelson said both parties had approached the council to offer their properties. “We are not going round knocking on doors asking if people want to sell their houses, we are asking people to approach us,” he said. “It is not unusual for people to become tenants of the council, we are one of the biggest landowners in the city. “And it does not mean that because we own these properties that they will be knocked down. “This is simply the start of the process of assembling land in the areas of redevelopment outlined in the Carlisle Renaissance plan. “It’s a positive sign that regeneration in Rickergate will happen. It’s a statement of intent.” If the land on which the properties stand is not ultimately required, the council will keep them as assets or sell them on the open market, he added. Details of how many other Rickergate properties will need to be acquired will not be known until the blueprint for the area is finalised. That is expected when a private developer has been selected and planning applications tabled in 2010. The council already has an agreement in place with the owners of public sector buildings in Rickergate, such as the magistrates’ court, to take control of them if required. The future of the Rickergate proposal was called into question last month when a report by a government inspector criticised plans for a plaza with shops, offices and a hotel. The report expressed grave doubts about proposals to bulldoze the Civic Centre, police and fire stations, Adriano’s, the magistrates’ court and homes in Warwick Street. Taken from The News & Star / [Link] / [Back to top] Housing would block key road plan A NEW relief road considered vital to Renaissance plans for Carlisle city centre is now in serious doubt. City councillors have agreed in principle to allow housing on the line of the south-west inner relief road, designed to take traffic out of the city centre. Building 54 homes at Denton Business Park would prevent the link from Botchergate to Wigton Road being built. The significance of that decision was underlined by county councillors this week. The county’s Carlisle local committee, the highways authority for Carlisle, said the relief road was “an absolute prerequisite” to Renaissance, in particular the proposals to pedestrianise Court Square and much of Lowther Street. The local committee argued that the city council should not consult on its latest Renaissance document, the Urban Design Guide and Public Realm Framework, until plans for the road were further advanced. Labour’s Stewart Young said: “We need this road to go ahead before we can consider these other [Renaissance] schemes. “There is no prospect in the near term of that happening. “Unless it does happen, it’s a waste of everybody’s time and money to consult on schemes to extend pedestrianisation. “They shouldn’t be consulted on because they haven’t any reasonable expectation of being implemented.” But city councillors ignored the county’s advice, voting by 26 to 21 on Tuesday to hold the consultation, even though Labour argued that doing so was “premature”. The Urban Design Guide is a blueprint outlining in detail schemes to revitalise the city centre after the 2005 floods. Central to the design concept are four “city squares” – Court Square, Market Square, Rickergate Plaza and a new square in Viaduct Estate, where the University of Cumbria will have its new HQ. The document will go to public consultation for six weeks later this month. Meanwhile, the city council’s development control committee is expected to confirm planning consent for the Denton Holme housing on May 30. Councillors ignored planning officers’ advice to agree McKnight & Son’s scheme in principle last Friday. The final decision has been delayed only to allow officers time to draw up conditions. The planning officers’ report said that allowing the housing would prevent a relief road being built and might not be “in the public interest”. It added that councillors could give little weight to this, as the road is not yet formal policy, but still recommended the housing be refused. Noise from nearby industrial premises would be a nuisance to residents, it said, and the land is designated for employment use, not housing. Taken from The News & Star / [Link] / [Back to top] |
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