Conservative Councillor Malcolm Thomas has submitted his resignation from the Cabinet of Lancaster City Council, earlier today in protest at the handling of a proposal to close Lancaster Market that will be put before Full Council on Wednesday.
“I am resigning from the Cabinet,” says Coun Thomas, who held the position of Cabinet Member and Portfolio Holder for Finance. “I believe that there are serious financial risks in going ahead with the proposals for the Lancaster Market Building.”
Coun Thomas, who voted for the closure proposal at Cabinet last month, has now reversed his support for the plan, which would hand the building over to a single retailer and relocate and compensate current stall holders.
“Publicly available evidence highlighting the risks involved in this proposal was not included in the exempt report delivered to Cabinet at short notice during the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 16th February 2010,” says Coun Thomas, although he does not specifically state what “publicly available evidence” he is referring to in his statement.
“Had that information been included I would not have supported the proposal at that Cabinet meeting.
“I am unable to support this proposal when it comes to the Meeting of Full Council on Wednesday 3rd March 2010. It is untenable for me to remain in the Cabinet.”
The virtual-lancaster ‘straw poll’ of councillors about the closure plans published earlier today has, so far, had limited response from individual councillors. Although both the Conservatives and Green Party have made general statements on the proposals the Liberal Democrats and Labour seem to have chosen not to make a statement at this time. So far, only two councillors – Jon Barry and Emily Heath – have responded to our questions directly, both opposing closure and relocation.
“I support the relocation of the market to the top floor of the existing Market, with the bottom floor to be used for a single trader,” Councillor Barry told virtual-lancaster. “This is the position adopted by the market holders themselves.
“This would allow the Council to gain extra rental income but would keep the market in the heart of Lancaster,” Jon argues. “The space on the top floor would be expanded by filling in part of the ‘hole’ in the middle of the market.”