Drop parking charge plan, Carlisle council is told
Last updated 14:17, Tuesday, 21 October 2008

Council chiefs are set to drop proposed new parking charges for the Rickergate area of Carlisle.

The plan had been to make spaces between Dixon Street and Corporation Road, and behind Corporation Road, into pay-and-display car parks.

Currently, motorists can park there free for one hour.

Now Cumbria County Council’s Carlisle local committee is being advised not to agree the “stopping-up order” needed to allow Carlisle City Council to bring in charges.

However, it still intends to make spaces at the north end of Lowther Street, near Eden Bridge House, into a pay-and-display car park.

The U-turn was welcomed by sisters Julia and Jo Clifford, who run Curves women-only gym in Corporation Road.

They argued that the charges would affect residents and businesses, and submitted a 500-signature petition against the proposal.

Julia Clifford said: “This is fantastic news.

“We wanted to prove to people that if you stand together and do things properly, you can make a difference.”

The change of heart is revealed in a letter from the county council’s area engineer, Richard Hayward, to Carlisle MP Eric Martlew.

Mr Martlew had taken up the case on behalf of Rickergate residents and, like the Cliffords, is pleased with the likely outcome.

“People can continue to park behind their houses and customers can continue to park near the businesses,” he said.

“There’s no doubt that the city council are just raising revenue and this is what this [proposal] was all about.”

The Carlisle local committee meets on November 11.

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

Adriano’s is saved from the bulldozer
Last updated 09:20, Friday, 10 October 2008

ADRIANO’S, one of Carlisle’s most popular Italian restaurants, has a secure future for three years at least.

Carlisle City Council bought the Rickergate premises in March for £775,000.

Its intention was to bulldoze the restaurant and surrounding buildings to make way for a plaza with shops, offices, flats and a hotel.

But the Carlisle Renaissance scheme has now been shelved.

Adriano’s owner, Franco Bertoletti, said: “The council has leased it back to me for three years and they are getting a good rent. I will stay for those three years and see how I feel then.

“I’m 62 now, so I will be at retiring age. At the moment I feel OK and I like the place.

“But three years at my age, they make a difference, so we will have to see.”

The council bought Adriano’s and a home in Warwick Street with cash from the Northwest Regional Development Agency. It plans to keep them as “strategic property purchases” in an area identified for development.

Mr Bertoletti opened Adriano’s in what used to the Malt Shovel pub in 2004.

It was submerged under 6ft of water in the floods but re-opened after a refurbishment.

He put it up for sale the following year with a guide price of £700,000.

Mr Bertoletti opened Carlisle’s first Italian restaurant, Franco’s, then in Castle Street, in 1974. He has since owned and sold eateries including La Cucina in Lowther Street and Vivaldi’s in Lowther Street.

He also opened Greek restaurant, Zorba’s, in Warwick Road.

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

Residents’ joy as change of heart saves their homes
Last updated 09:12, Friday, 10 October 2008

SAVE Our Streets campaigners in Carlisle are jubilant after it was confirmed this week that plans to bulldoze much of Rickergate have been dropped.

The controversial Renaissance scheme would have demolished the Civic Centre, the police and fire stations, magistrates’ court, Adriano’s restaurant and private homes in Warwick Street. In their place would have been a plaza with shops, flats, offices and possibly a four-star hotel.

Bryan Gray, chairman of the new private sector-led Carlisle Renaissance board, had previously expressed grave doubts about the development. Speaking after the board met on Monday, he went further and ruled it out completely.

Mr Gray said: “It is not being pursued. That is not to say someone won’t come forward with ideas [for Rickergate] that might be considered but it is not our role to push something that has no particular drive.”

Renaissance director Ian McNichol relayed the news in a letter to Save Our Streets, which has consistently campaigned against the scheme. City council leader Mike Mitchelson told councillors on Tuesday night.

He said: “No work is currently being undertaken on a development brief [for Rickergate] and we are not planning to acquire further property [there] at this time.”

Elizabeth Allnutt, secretary of Save Our Streets, was delighted by the decision. She said: “Our homes, businesses and community would appear to be safe at last. The group has fought hard and persistently on many fronts since October 2006.”

But she said there were still questions that needed answers, such as what would happen to the money provided by the Northwest Development Agency to buy up property;what will the council do with property it has already bought, such as Adriano’s Restaurant, and what will become of the fire and police stations and magistrates court.

Ms Allnutt added: “Why did this battle have to be fought at all? The original consultation process and every consultation after has been a sham and a public relations exercise only.”

Mr Gray also confirmed this week that Tesco is being asked to scrap its plan for a supermarket in Viaduct Estate.

The Renaissance board wants Tesco to go elsewhere so that its land can be released to the University of Cumbria.

The university aims to build a £70m riverside campus in Viaduct Estate next to Tesco’s proposed 40,000sq ft store. Mr Gray says the university will need more room to expand and Tesco could provide it.

“The university is the single most important investment in Carlisle for a generation or more,” he said. “To shoehorn it into a small site is not appropriate. We are very keen to see if we can work with Tesco to release that part of the site.”

Work on the new Tesco was due to start last month but has been delayed. Tesco may now be offered a land swap, allowing it to build on another site in Carlisle in return for giving up its plot in Viaduct Estate.

The city council says talks with Tesco are taking place and the chain has indicated that it may be receptive to an approach.

Corporate affairs manager Douglas Wilson said: “We are still committed to the Viaduct Estate site but, if the Renaissance board want to talk to us, we are more than willing to listen and help Carlisle City Council wherever we can.”

Following the U-turn on Rickergate, Renaissance will now concentrate on four priorities – the university, the historic core, new sites for business near the M6 and boosting the city-centre economy.

Ideas include appointing a city centre manager and drawing up a plan for the cathedral, castle, Hadrian’s Wall and Tullie House museum.

Mr Gray said: “Each site is important in its own right but put the four together and you have a unique set of historic assets.”

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

We’re left in limbo
Last updated 11:48, Tuesday, 07 October 2008

SAVE Our Streets campaigners say the Rickergate area of Carlisle is being “blighted” by uncertainty over its long-term future.

The city’s new Carlisle Renaissance board last month shelved controversial redevelopment plans.

Chairman Bryan Gray said the scheme for a plaza with shops, flats, offices and a four-star hotel was no longer “being pursued”.

But Carlisle City Council’s leader, Mike Mitchelson, later hinted that redevelopment could go ahead at a later date.

This has prompted the Save Our Streets group, which is opposed to the demolition of homes, to demand that Renaissance officials come clean with their intentions.

In a letter to Renaissance programme director Ian McNichol, the group says: “The continued uncertainty over the future of Rickergate is not helping local businesses here at all.

“It is also having a blighting effect on the sale of property in the area – something which the planning inspector in his report on the local plan inquiry was very clear should be avoided.

“We are also concerned about the future of the buildings of local historical interest.

“What kind of effect will this uncertainty have on the future of these buildings?”

The Rickergate scheme as originally put forward would have seen the demolition of the Civic Centre, police and fire stations, magistrates court, Adriano’s restaurant and homes in Warwick Street.

Mr Mitchelson told the News & Star’s sister newspaper, The Cumberland News, that it might still be pursued.

He said: “The Renaissance board has come to a view that Rickergate is not one of its four priorities.

“But that doesn’t mean to say the scheme is dead.

“Carlisle Renaissance is a 10-to-20-year agenda.

“We are committed to doing a development brief [for Rickergate]. All I’ve said to the council is that, at the current time, we’re not doing it but it will happen one day.”

The council was given £2m by the Northwest Regional Development Agency to buy up property in Rickergate with a view to redevelopment.

It acquired the freehold of Adriano’s Restaurant and one of the former fire station houses in Warwick Street.

Mr Mitchelson said the council would hang on to them as “strategic property purchases” in an area “identified for future development”.

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