RIVERLIGHTS PROJECT FLAWED 2

Pat Woolley, of Littleover, has complained to the Local Government Ombudsman about the way Derby City Council has given its backing to the £83m scheme. She claims that the council has not fully considered the objections that were made and that there have been some "procedural irregularities". The proposals, by Nottingham-based developer Metro Holst, would transform the banks of the River Derwent, where bars, restaurants, offices and apartments would be built. The plans also include building a bus station to replace Derby's current 1930s bus station in the Morledge, which has been fiercely defended by campaigners, including Mrs Woolley, who is a member of the Bus Station Action Group. Derby City Council backed the Riverlights scheme in October 2003.

The planning application has now been referred to Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott because it is a departure from the Local Plan, the blueprint for development in the city. Mrs Woolley has made a number of complaints to the ombudsman about this issue. She claims that injustice has been caused because the development would create an unsafe route under Holmes Bridge between the railway station and the bus station, and that it would increase pollution from volumes of traffic as well as fumes from the underground car park. She has sent the ombudsman a copy of a letter she has written to a range of people, including Mr Prescott, Derby South MP Margaret Beckett, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, and UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.

She says that the council did not consult people on whether or not the Riverside Gardens open space was surplus to their needs and that, as an objector, she was not notified of the date and time of a planning meeting about the scheme on October 23. "The council has disregarded what we've said and there are far too many issues that haven't been resolved," said Mrs Woolley. Richard Smalley, chairman of the council's planning committee, said, "Mrs Woolley has every right to question the decision of the council through this avenue. We don't deny that this is a very important development for the city and I believe that we have given it proper consideration."

In 1996, Derby City Council signed a deal with Nottingham-based developer MetroHolst. In October, 1997, the council granted outline planning permission for scheme that involved demolishing and rebuilding the bus station. This sparked mass protest, a 15,000-name petition to save the Art Deco bus station and an action group was formed. The plans were revised several times, and in November, 2000, MetroHolst submitted outline proposals for a 10-screen cinema, hotel, nightclub, health centre, restaurants and bars. The hotel and cinema elements were dropped in 2001.

In June 2003, fresh plans, which included 150 flats and an office block, were submitted. They were approved on October 23. As this plan departs from land use allocated in the Local Plan, the city's development blueprint, it has been called in by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. His office will decide on whether the council can approve the outline plan, or whether it should be determined by a Government inspector.

A row erupted over the question of public consultation in connection with Derby's £83m Riverlights development. Anti-Riverlights campaigner Dorothy Skrytek has complained to the Local Government Ombudsman after the council published a notice of intent to "dispose" of a corner of the Riverside Gardens.

The council intends to lease 688 square metres of public space between the River Derwent and bus station to Riverlights developer MetroHolst. Ms Skrytek submitted a 500-signature petition in 2003 and was assured in a letter from the council in February 2004 that "proper consultation" would take place "at such a time as the disposal of the land becomes necessary".

She claims by publishing the notice of intent, the council has bypassed the "proper consultation". Ms Skrytek said, "The fact is they haven't consulted. They've done it the wrong way round." But council leader Maurice Burgess insisted that the notice of intent was part of the consultation process.

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