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| Archway: Are minds made up? |
Doubts voiced over consultation
A new row blew up over plans to regenerate run-down Archway this
week after Town Hall Lib Dem leader Councillor Steve Hitchins was
accused of “pre-empting” a £200,000 independent
consultation.
Residents have claimed Cllr Hitchins favours a large-scale redevelopment,
including a supermarket, even though the outside consultation will
not be completed until the end of November.
Pressure group Better Archway Forum has made it clear that it favours
a less disruptive redevelopment.
Residents claim Cllr Hitchins told the council’s north area
committee last Thursday that piecemeal redevelopment was not an
option, because of the difficulty of securing a developer.
But speaking from the Lib Dem conference at Blackpool this week,
he told the Tribune: “I’m not saying a supermarket will
be a good thing, but I do know that most supermarkets are full.”
He denied that he was in favour of a full-scale development. Cllr
Hitchins said: “Nothing is ever quite as black and white as
that.” But he pointed out that the council was not a substantial
landowner, and that if anything happened at Archway it would be
because a large developer went there with a large scheme.
Cllr Hitchins said: “The developer will need a large profit.
They don’t do it for charity.
“If, for example, a large developer comes forward with a plan
for a supermarket, we can only treat it in the same way as any other
retail unit, on planning grounds. We can’t ban a supermarket.
He added that any decision would not be his, as plans would have
to go to the north area committee for approval. Then they would
go before the council’s executive, which cannot overrule a
decision by the area committee.
Amy Silverston, of Better Archway Forum, said after the north area
committee meeting: “My impression was that consultation will
continue but at the end of the day Cllr Hitchins wants to see full-scale
development.
“This is despite 60 per cent of residents preferring a smaller-scale
scheme and the council’s own planning department indicating
that a smaller development is an option.
“What I don’t know is whether the consultants are closer
to Cllr Hitchins or the council planners.”
A team of eight outside specialists, including architects, traffic
planners and financial consultants – with no ties to an interested
developer – have been given until early next year to produce
a viable plan to improve Archway.
Their appointment was seen as a major victory for Better Archway
Forum, which argued that, prior to the specialists’ appointment,
the project was being led by the financial needs of the council
and a developer rather than what was best for the area.
The pressure group argued that its focus groups had indicated that
residents, traders and workers wanted smaller, less intrusive improvements
to enhance the area.
Significantly, many wanted to keep the Archway tower, despite it
being considered an eyesore, because they said demolition would
create a no-go area for years. They feared a supermarket would destroy
local shops. |
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