Plans for the £100million Centros redevelopment will be decided at a special meeting of Lancaster council's planning committee today and tomorrow.

Thirty-one members of the public have already registered to speak at the meeting at Lancaster Town Hall. The scheme for the land which borders St Leonardgate, Moor Lane, Stonewell and Alfred Street includes:
* More smaller shops suitable for local retailers.
* A smaller Debenhams.
* More public space and a larger central square.
* A reduction in some building heights.
* A city centre food store.
* £2million investment in Lancaster culture, with the Dukes, Grand Theatre and Musicians' Co-op to benefit.
* More public open spaces.

The plan also includes a 20 per cent increase in the number of new homes – from 150 up to 179. In the Moor Lane area, 25 per cent of the units will be 'affordable'.

But at an Any Questions session with Morecambe MP Geraldine Smith last week, residents were already raising concerns about the number of new flats which have been built recently, including:
* Aalborg Place, Lancaster, owned by Persimmon Homes. Only 30 of the 139 apartments have been sold.

* The 32 Knightsbridge apartments in Aldcliffe Road.
* The Halton Mills development by Time & Tide. Only a handful of the 200 properties are occupied.

* The 100 Kingsway flats being built in Back Caton Road.
But Lancaster City Council believes that in three or four years' time all these flats will be full.

The city council's corporate director for regeneration Heather McManus said Lancaster district has the fastest growing population in Lancashire and is due to increase by 8.4 per cent by 2029.

Other areas of concern about the Centros plans include extra traffic and lack of parking.

If the company does get the go-ahead they will have five years put in a detailed planning application for the site.

They say consultation would be likely to take place in the new year and the agreeing of the final designs could be a 12-month process.

If approved, building work would start in 2011 and the scheme would be completed at the end of 2012.

If you aren't speaking but would still like to attend, just turn up at 10am on the day.