By Julian Whittle Political editor

Published at 13:36, Thursday, 01 May 2008

A NEW relief road considered vital to Renaissance plans for Carlisle city centre is now in serious doubt.

Stewart Young: Relief road essential to Renaissance

City councillors have agreed in principle to allow housing on the line of the south-west inner relief road, designed to take traffic out of the city centre. Building 54 homes at Denton Business Park would prevent the link from Botchergate to Wigton Road being built.

The significance of that decision was underlined by county councillors this week.

The county’s Carlisle local committee, the highways authority for Carlisle, said the relief road was “an absolute prerequisite” to Renaissance, in particular the proposals to pedestrianise Court Square and much of Lowther Street.

The local committee argued that the city council should not consult on its latest Renaissance document, the Urban Design Guide and Public Realm Framework, until plans for the road were further advanced.

Labour’s Stewart Young said: “We need this road to go ahead before we can consider these other [Renaissance] schemes.

“There is no prospect in the near term of that happening.

“Unless it does happen, it’s a waste of everybody’s time and money to consult on schemes to extend pedestrianisation.

“They shouldn’t be consulted on because they haven’t any reasonable expectation of being implemented.”

But city councillors ignored the county’s advice, voting by 26 to 21 on Tuesday to hold the consultation, even though Labour argued that doing so was “premature”.

The Urban Design Guide is a blueprint outlining in detail schemes to revitalise the city centre after the 2005 floods.

Central to the design concept are four “city squares” – Court Square, Market Square, Rickergate Plaza and a new square in Viaduct Estate, where the University of Cumbria will have its new HQ.

The document will go to public consultation for six weeks later this month.

Meanwhile, the city council’s development control committee is expected to confirm planning consent for the Denton Holme housing on May 30. Councillors ignored planning officers’ advice to agree McKnight & Son’s scheme in principle last Friday.

The final decision has been delayed only to allow officers time to draw up conditions.

The planning officers’ report said that allowing the housing would prevent a relief road being built and might not be “in the public interest”.

It added that councillors could give little weight to this, as the road is not yet formal policy, but still recommended the housing be refused.

Noise from nearby industrial premises would be a nuisance to residents, it said, and the land is designated for employment use, not housing.

Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk