3.1.06: TSLM Letter to Cllr Barker - Lancaster City Council:
To: Cllr Ian Barker
Leader, Lancaster City Council
Dear Mr Barker
In August 2004 Lancaster City Council approved the plan to build the Heysham M6 Link Road on the express condition that a second bridge be built to include the Luneside industrial area in the scheme. Members of the City Council were clear that the scheme was of little value to the district without that bridge to an important development area.
On the 2nd September 2004 Lancashire County Council’s Cabinet voted to proceed with the scheme but without that bridge, clearly ignoring Lancaster City Council’s stipulation. The position therefore is that Lancaster City Council voted to support a plan which was significantly different from that proposed by the County.
Lancashire County Council has submitted the planning application to its own planning committee and now is the time for concerned parties to make objections.
Given the cost of the scheme, at present over £118 million, and the importance of the issue to the district as a whole, Lancaster City Council should not passively sit in silence and allow the County to make decisions in Preston which will profoundly affect Lancaster and Morecambe. If that were to be the case, it would call into question the value of retaining an elected body in Lancaster.
We demand that your Council join our MP, affected residents, concerned organizations and ourselves, and object to the building of this destructive and damaging road which is of questionable value to the area. We hope that you will also agree that Lancashire County Council should not be allowed to promote this controversial road, plan it and approve its own plans, without the scrutiny of an objective third party, we therefore call upon you to join us and request the Deputy Prime Minister to call the matter in for a public inquiry.
Yours sincerely,
David Gate
Chair, Transport Solutions for Lancaster & Morecambe (TSLM)
PO Box 146, Morecambe LA4 6WR