OPPONENTS of the £150million Centros scheme said 'we told you so' this week after Lancaster City Council pulled out of the public inquiry into the retail-led development.
The council had budgeted to spend £50,000 of taxpayers' money on its appearance at the town hall development hearing – but said this week it was too early to confirm the final cost.
It withdrew from the hearing last Thursday after senior conservat
ion officer Stephen Gardner raised issues with the proposed Stonewell bridge and the proximity of new buildings to existing listed buildings.
Centros had chosen not to appear at the inquiry, leaving council officers alone in defending the decision by council planners to approve the plans last October.
Billy Pye, of residents' group It's Our City, said: "We said in the pre-inquiry meeting that the council was on very dodgy ground trying to present this case when the applicant was not going to.
"So it is no surprise the inquiry has ended up in some confusion.
"The council has withdrawn having spent council taxpayers' money so there are questions it needs to answer."
The council is now considering whether to seek costs from Centros for the extra expense it has incurred because of the developer's non-appearance. Council barrister, Paul Tucker, said at last week's hearing: "My client considers itself badly let down by the stance taken by Centros. This has caused unnecessary expenditure to the council taxpayers of Lancaster."
Since the scheme was approved, English Heritage has come out in opposition to the demolition of some heritage buildings, prompting the Secretary of State's 'call in'.
Giving evidence last Wednesday, Mr Gardner said he believed detailed designs for the bridge between St Nicholas Arcades and Stonewell should have been included in the outline plans.
In a statement, the council's head of planning, Andrew Dobson, said the council was unable to address the issues in the applicant's absence.
Inspector, John Gray, said the inquiry would proceed without the council and a spokesman for English Heritage has since told the hearing the development would have a detrimental effect on the site's archaeological, historic and architectural significance.
Lancaster Civic Society this week expressed its support for the scheme, calling it an "opportunity for regeneration and innovation" in a "sensitive pattern and appropriate scale". Lancaster District Chamber of Commerce president John Price said it was "an amazing opportunity for development" which would bring a "major improvement in the city's footfall".
But Lancaster residents, including Couns Anne Chapman and Jude Towers, said most people didn't want the development with the increased traffic and loss of historical buildings it would bring.
As the Guardian went to press, it was unclear whether the inquiry would run into a fourth week.
