Tania <br>I did receive a courtesy copy of your letter to the Lancaster
Guardian via our website. As it was addressed to Barry Freeman at the
Guardian, I assumed that the copy I had received was just for the
information of the Centros Miller development team so I did not respond
to you. 
<br><br>While I cannot speak for the Lancaster Guardian, it is my
experience elsewhere that the deadline for the readers' letters page in
most local weekly newspapers is much earlier in the week before
publication than their deadline for the news pages. My guess therefore
is that your letter may simply have missed last week's deadline or that
the page was already full and it has simply been carried over to this
week. I would also be astounded if the Lancaster Guardian were to
operate such a policy as you suggest, especially given its publication
in recent weeks of a series of very negative readers' letters prior to
the time when we were able to begin consultation and meet and reassure
groups such as the Musicians' Co-operative, local residents'
representatives and business owners including yourself about the full
consultation process we are just beginning. 
<br><br>As we explained at the
meeting on 6th December with you and other business and property owners
on the site, Centros Miller will meet each of you separately to discuss
what your business needs are and how they might best be accommodated
should your premises be needed for the proposed development. We also set
out an approximate time frame and that it would be at least two years
before the start of development (and therefore any need to relocate any
affected businesses.) We also reassured everyone that Centros Miller
would provide full assistance with both the practicalities and the cost
of any relocations. But clearly, it would be best to learn much more
about your individual business needs first before beginning to look for
alternative premises - especially as they will not be needed for quite
some time. That process of meeting owners and occupiers on the site
began early last week and I am sure that it is only a matter of a little
time before Centros Miller will be able to meet with you. 
<br><br>May I also
reassure you that compulsory purchase is not about to be 'slapped' on
anyone. Private developers do not have this power. In this case it is
only the  council that has such a power and it can only used if the
council were to decide that a proposed development would be in the
greater interest of the community as a whole. As we also explained at
the meeting, a Compulsory Purchase Order process usually takes a whole
year, as it involves a public inquiry. The process can only begin once
planning consent has been granted and the developer is obliged to have
used its best endeavours to purchase affected properties through
negotiation with the owners. If the order is eventually confirmed,
owners receive compensation for their properties at full market value.
<br>I hope that this puts your mind at rest and I can assure you that
any other concerns you may have about the future of your business can be
discussed with Centros Miller when you meet them. <br><br>Steve Bryson
<br>HALOGEN <br>On behalf of Centros Miller