RIVERLIGHTS PROJECT SECRECY

Derby's multi-million-pound Riverlights project is surrounded by secrecy despite a meeting called by opposition councillors to shed light on the scheme. Conservative councillors tabled a motion at an extraordinary meeting of the city council last July, calling for cross-party talks with developer MetroHolst. The motion was designed to shed more light on a stalled plan to replace Derby's bus station with a new development, including cafes, restaurants, offices, residential space and, potentially, a new site for Derby College. Councillors approved the motion and the talks finally took place.

But, despite the calls for greater transparency over the project, councillors who attended the closed-door meeting are staying tight-lipped about its contents. Liberal Democrat group leader Maurice Burgess was at the meeting. He said, "We have been asked to hold fire at the moment until some final things are sorted out. I'm as keen to get the whole thing sorted as anyone is, but if things come out when people are in the middle of negotiations it might ruin the whole state of things before they can be presented to the public. I can't see a lot of reasons why MetroHolst can't say what their ideas are, but they should tell you about them."

The Tories had accused Derby City Council of secrecy surrounding the development. After the meeting, Tory group leader Philip Hickson, said, "It was a positive meeting. MetroHolst has undergone a major change in its attitude and it wants to engage the public in the proposals and get their views." Sara Bolton, the city council's cabinet member for planning and prosperity, refused to shed any light on the meeting and was surprised anyone had discovered it had taken place. She said, "How did you know about that? It was private. It was a very useful meeting and that's the only comment I will make."

After five years on the drawing board, Nottingham-based developer MetroHolst has still not submitted detailed plans for the project. The Bus Station Action Group, formed to save the existing 1930s bus station, has collected 15,000 signatures on a petition calling for the buildings to be saved. Following the meeting, it is believed that MetroHolst is currently drawing up revised plans which should soon be made public, but the city council said it could not confirm this.

Jon Turner, of the Bus Station Action Group said, "Councillors are always on about commercial confidentiality, but they are supposed to represent the people who elected them." Richard Kemp, a director of MetroHolst, was unavailable for comment.