A public inquiry opened Tuesday, 16 June, to determine the future of a significant part of the historic city of Lancaster, a Georgian city which has been described as the ‘‘Bath of the North’’. English Heritage is opposing a proposal to build a development scheme of a size and scale entirely alien to Lancaster’s character. This would involve clearing an extensive historic townscape area and demolishing more than 30 buildings, 18 of which fall within conservation areas.
English Heritage will argue that the development would cause irreversible damage to the historic city. English Heritage, SAVE and Lancaster residents’ group, It’s Our City will all give evidence against the scheme proposed by Centros Lancaster LLP, who have declined to present their case to the inquiry. English Heritage is confident that it can show that this scheme fails to meet government planning legislation and policy guidance and that the developer has failed to take Lancaster’s heritage properly into account when designing the scheme. English Heritage will therefore urge that planning permission for the proposed development and other consents required for its delivery be refused by the Secretary of State.
