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'Blackpool's crafty move to derail plan'
Blackpool Council has been accused of using a "crafty move" in an attempt to derail Tithebarn.
The authority submitted last-minute objections to the scheme on Monday afternoon, just hours before planners met to decide the fate of the project.
Steve Weaver, chief executive of Blackpool Council, wrote to the Government Office for the North West asking for the application to be "called in" by the Secretary of State.
He said: "It would wholly perverse if the application were to be determined by members of Preston Council who will, quite understandably, judge the proposal in terms of the benefits they perceive to their constituents and their local area."
Blackpool Council also submitted a 34-page consultants' report looking at how the Tithebarn development would negatively impact the resort and other towns.
>> Tithebarn development given go-ahead
Coun Alan Hackett, a member of the planning committee, said Blackpool was hoping Preston would ignore the correspondence and "fall into a trap".
He said: "It's a crafty move but it ain't going to work.
"The way this report reads is the only thing we haven't done is send tanks down the road and declare nuclear war on Blackpool."
Furious committee member John Browne said: "Why on earth at this stage have we got all this pushed on to us?"
Graham Stock, partner in Drivers Jonas, retail consultants which advised the council, said much of the report was "suggestion and assertion rather than hard evidence" and he pointed out "a good number of errors".
Peter Kuit, director of development at Preston Council, said the planning committee were advised to refer the proposals to the Government office if approved.
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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