Land Securities’ portfolio director Richard Akers (pictured) has said he is confident that “a fair inquiry” into the company’s planned 330,000 sq ft (30,657 sq m) shopping centre in the heart of York will support the scheme.
Akers made the comments as the public inquiry into the company’s £60m Coppergate Riverside scheme (Coppergate II) opened yesterday.
He added that local opposition to the scheme was not based on facts, but on “misinformation and muddying of the waters”.
The inquiry, due to end in three weeks, will pitch the developer, backed up by evidence from Drivers Jonas on the retail impact and English Heritage, against local conservation groups and CABE, the government’s architecture watchdog.
The government’s architecture watchdog said of the proposals, which have been approved by English Heritage (EH), that it was “disappointed by the quality of the scheme”.
LandSec wants to build the scheme in the shadow of Clifford’s Tower, a historic landmark where over 100 Jews were killed by a mob in 1190. Although some local heritage groups oppose the scheme, English Heritage believes that it will actually improve the context of the tower.
EGi News 16/01/02
