John O’Gaunt stretches from the Cathedral to the top of Bowerham and round to Williamson Park, including the Moorlands and Primrose areas, St Martins College and Newlands.
Residents group Its Our City have produced a briefing for people who want to send in representations to the City Council Planning Dept on the current Centros applications for the Canal Corridor. Details can be found on the Its Our City website.
The deadline for getting responses in is Aug 7th.
Residents in Bowerham were fortunate not to lose their local Post Office in the recent round of Network Changes, however, the knock-on effects of closures elsewhere in town are starting to increase traffic and parking problems around the Bowerham Post Office.
John O’Gaunt Green Cllr Jude Towers said “I did predict that we would feel the knock-on effects of closures elsewhere. We are already significantly affected by University of Cumbria traffic in this area and this is just adding to the parking chaos.”
In response to concerns from local residents, Jude has written to both the Royal Mail group and to Post watch informing them of these problems and asking them to follow up in areas where closures have occured to assess the real impact on local communities, both those who are directly affected with their local Post Office having been shut down and those communities now living with the knock-on effects.
Improvements have been carried out to the cycle/footpath which links the Hala estate to the gates of three Sustrans Bike It Schools. Parents and pupils at St. Bernadette’s, Moorside and Stepping Stones in Bowerham Road will now have a safe off road cycle route to school. Before the works were undertaken, this popular shortcut from Gressingham Drive to Bowerham Road was regarded by residents to be dark, muddy and unsafe. (more…)
The Government is currently deciding which company will operate the successor to the Post Office card account (POCA) from 2010. Although the Post Office has made a strong bid, it is far from certain that it will win the contract. The National Federation of SubPostmasters (NFSP) is taking action to secure the contract for the Post Office and a future for the post office network (more…)
Following a PACT meeting with the University of Cumbria to discuss the impacts of student and staff parking on local residential streets, the University has now offered local residents the opportunity to park for free after 5pm in the carpark off Coulston Road.
The scheme is designed to aid residents who return home in the evening and find they cannot park on their street. Residents can contact the University of Cumbria’s Estates Department and request a resident permit which then allows them to park in the Coulston Road carpark for free after 5pm. (more…)
7.30 PM, TUESDAY 24TH JUNE 2008
LANCASTER TOWN HALL
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT
THE CHANGES TO THE CENTROS PLANS
AND HOW TO OBJECT TO THEM
This meeting is to provide information about the latest changes to the Centros plans and how to object to them. There will be speakers followed by a question and answer session.
Green Cllr Jude Towers has been liasising with the new Chair of the City Council Planning Department to try and ensure the impact of new developments on local residents whilst in the construction phase, are taken fully into account.
Currently Stirling Road residents are being impacted on by contractor parking from the new development of flats opposite the White Cross pub. The Council’s Planning Department has agreed to discuss this issue with site management and to investigate how in future developments the impact of issues such as contractor parking on surrounding streets can be minimised.
The Friends of Scotch Quarry group have just ordered 1000 bulbs through the City Council for the park and will be seeking volunteers for planting in the autumn. By next Spring these bulbs should be providing a splash of colour in the park, with daffodils, snowdrops, bluebells, wood anemana and crocus.
The University of Cumbria is finally talking about the parking problem. At a special JoG ward PACT meeting in early April, Mike Baker of the University of Cumbria was invited to talk to the local community about the traffic and parking problems blighting the surrounding area. Over 75 local people turned out to listen to what the University had to say, to offer their own suggestions and to make sure the University understands how serious this problem is for those of us living in close proximity to the Lancaster campus.
John O’Gaunt Ward Cllr Jude Towers Said after the meeting “I’ll be keeping an eye on the situation, starting by contacting the University to find out the outcome of the first parking group meeting. Lets hope this is a turning point. ”
Developers Centros have been back in town showing the latest version of their plans for the controversial redevelopment of the Canal Corridor area of town to local councillors and interested parties. Planning applications for this version of the scheme are due to be submitted in the 2nd week of June.
The new Centros proposals can be downloaded here:
