Published at 10:34, Monday, 04 February 2008

WORK on Carlisle Renaissance schemes to redevelop Rickergate and Viaduct Estate is unlikely to start until 2010, city council chiefs have admitted.

Renaissance was launched as a response to the 2005 floods with promises it would create 3,000 jobs, bring £160m of private investment and transform the face of Carlisle.

The Renaissance plans for Rickergate involve demolition of the Civic Centre, police and fire stations, magistrates court and homes in Warwick Street.

In their place would come shops and offices, a tree-lined square and a luxury hotel.

Viaduct Estate would get a waterfront office development and possibly an HQ for the University of Cumbria.

The city council’s director of Renaissance, Ian McNichol, says obstacles have to be overcome before building work can begin in the middle of 2010.

The public inquiry into the Carlisle Local Plan will report in March, outlining what sort of development will be allowed.

A development brief can then be drawn up, taking six months, before the council advertises for a developer to build and deliver the schemes.

Once appointed, this private developer will need to obtain detailed planning permission before bulldozers move in and work can begin.

There could be further complications in Rickergate if English Heritage decides to list any buildings there, so preventing their demolition.

Mr McNichol said: “You don’t turn a city on a sixpence. We are developing a long-term plan for Carlisle.”

City council leader Mike Mitchelson announced plans last month to speed up the process by handing control of Renaissance to a new board.

This will have nine members, one each from the city and county councils, Northwest Development Agency and Cumbria Vision, and five from local businesses.

Mr Mitchelson said: “This is a partnership approach and a bold step for Carlisle.

“The board will give us speed of decision making, stability, draw in private sector skills and, to a certain extent, depoliticise Renaissance.”

The board will appoint a £75,000-a-year programme director to oversee Renaissance and replace Mr McNichol, whose secondment at the city council ends in the autumn.

The director will lead a team of staff including three development managers and an urban designer, some of whom are already in place.

Total funding for this Renaissance team will be £750,000 a year with the lion’s share coming from the Northwest Development Agency.

However, there is some disquiet among opposition councillors that control of Renaissance is, in effect, being handed over to a board dominated by unelected business people.

Denton Holme Labour councillor Paul Atkinson said: “We are democratically elected to represent people. Will this board be accountable to the city council? And why does it have to be private sector-led, not city council led?”

Mr Mitchelson argues that an independent board is the model favoured by the Northwest Development Agency for major regeneration schemes.

Carlisle MP Eric Martlew, among others, has become frustrated at the slow rate of progress. The Labour MP is strongly critical of the Conservative-run city council, which is leading Renaissance.

He said: “If they’re saying 2010, there will be slippage.

“It could be 2015 before we see visible change for the better.

“It typifies the leadership of the council, plenty of words and consultation but no action.”

Mr Mitchelson has hit back at Mr Martlew’s criticisms.

He said: “The MP should have more sense. He should understand the process. I can understand frustrations but processes have to be gone through to get it right.

“We are now on the edge of things ready to happen.”

Mr Mitchelson says that Renaissance has already brought benefits including an economic strategy and a £1m support package for business.

Work on a Renaissance scheme to improve Carlisle’s historic quarter, between English Street and the Castle, should start this year.

And there are plans to enhance Court Square and the Citadel to create a better environment for visitors arriving in Carlisle by train.

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