York Castle Area Campaign news

1st May 2008 - Clifford's Tower massacre highlighted in BBC series
BBC4's series "Inside the Medieval Mind" tonight focussed on belief. As the church's grip increased in medieval times, people were dragged before religious courts and thousands killed in the name of God. Professor Robert Bartlett came to York to reveal how York's Jewish population was exterminated at Clifford's Tower in 1190.

7th Feb 2008 - Conservationists' fears for Coppergate site
York's newspaper, The Press, reports that spokespeople from the Castle Area Campaign, York Tomorrow, and York Civic Trust have voiced concerns that the same mistakes are not repeated by the new developers.

6th Feb 2008 - LaSalle Investment Management and Centros take on Coppergate
The Castle Area Campaign is initially pleased to hear that Land Securities has sold the 200,000 sq ft Coppergate Centre and adjoining properties in Piccadilly in York. The new owners are a US company LaSalle Investment Management. We shall have to see whether they behave with greater sensitivity towards York's historic core and the scheduled ancient monument of Clifford's Tower.

In turn, LaSalle has appointed Centros, formerly Centros Miller, as the development manager. It may be too early to judge, but we have some niggling worries about Centros, whose Chairman, John F Laker, who was involved in the first Coppergate development in York. Furthermore, the devil you know, Land Securities, is listed as a Financial & Investment Partner of Centros.

Centros Miller also seems to have a bad track record of pushing inappropriate retail developments in historic English Towns.

In Bury St. Edmonds, the Knights of St. Edmond campaign group has uncovered a secret grubby deal whereby Debenhams would get an 8 years free rent in Centros' cattle market shopping mall. This sounds rather familiar to the Castle Area Campaign in York. I bet lots of local shopkeepers would be delighted if the Council or their landlord offered them 8 years free rent!

In Lancaster, residents formed IT'S OUR CITY to resist the City Council's 'preferred developer', Centros Miller. There a major retail development would involve a 100,000+ sq ft Debenhams department store.

Another campaign in Wells, Somerset claims that Centros' proposed development there "is not unlike an alien spaceship, landing in a beautiful, ancient community."

So is it a case of all change means no change? We hope not but our concern is mounting.

Further detail on The Press website.

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