Have your say on Canal Quarter principles
Written by John Williamson on 24/05/2018
Lancaster City Council is asking for the views of residents, businesses and organisations on a set of principles that will guide the future development of the Canal Quarter project.
The city council is promoting a new approach to redeveloping the area around the old Mitchell’s Brewery site and adjacent car parks with an exciting new mix of uses, including housing and business opportunities combined with retail space.
The first stage is to agree a broad set of key principles that will underpin a future development framework and masterplan for the area. It is intended to gauge views on whether the core principles are the right ones to underpin the redevelopment of the site – there will be further opportunities for people to get involved as the plans develop.
A full public engagement strategy is being drawn up, which will set out how the council will keep everyone informed and how people’s views will be taken into account moving forward.
Coun Janice Hanson, Cabinet member with responsibility for regeneration and planning, said: “The city council is committed to working closely with the public, businesses and organisations to develop ambitious new plans for the Canal Quarter site.
“This initial appraisal of the key principles is a demonstration of that commitment and I’d encourage everyone to get involved and let us know their thoughts. As the plans begin to develop there will be many more opportunities to get involved and make sure that this development achieves the best for the Lancaster district.”
The nine principles as currently drafted are that the development should:
• Provide significant and wide-ranging economic benefits without exposing the city council to unacceptable levels of financial risk
• Have less reliance on additional retail floor space, thereby instilling confidence in the future of the existing city centre shopping area
• Find new uses for historic buildings and capitalise on the site’s proximity to the Lancaster Canal
• Include more residential accommodation and cater for a variety of different occupiers
• Facilitate an increase in Lancaster University’s presence in the city centre
• Provide more business space especially for Lancaster’s thriving digital sector
• Deliver an arts hub that achieves the goal of making Lancaster the North West’s primary cultural centre outside of the main conurbations
• Take advantage of the latest in green technology to make the site as self-sustainable as possible
• Rationalise car parking and encourage sustainable travel to and through the area especially to the existing city centre
More detailed information on each of the principles, and the opportunity to comment, is available on the city council’s website at www.lancaster.gov.uk/canal-quarter. The deadline for responses is Wednesday June 13.
