THERE were stormy scenes at Lancaster Town Hall this week as Ryelands residents shouted down a £22 million proposal to demolish 250 properties on the estate to build new houses, play areas and a community centre.

Angry council tenants and home owners howled with derision as details of Oakapple Partnership's ambitious scheme were revealed.

Oakapple's managing director, David Sutcliffe, and housing chairman Carol Broad tried to reassure the residents that they would be consulted every step of the way.

Mr Sutcliffe told them: "You may feel angry and upset and some may feel that we are going to ride roughshod over your views. We promise this will not happen."

The plans include demolishing 250 properties on the estate to build a mixture of flats, houses and even three storey town houses.

These will either be rented to tenants by a housing association or offered for sale, with prices from £45,000 to £80,000.

The rest of the estate will be extensively refurbished and will include major home improvements, a landscaped central square, a community centre, a health centre and play areas.

Although many residents support the scheme, there are many more who are suspicious of the plans and are worried for the future. No one wanted to be named publicly at this stage but they feared that the bulldozers will move in whatever the residents say.

"They're doing this to make profit not for the residents," said one angry tenant. "They want the best parts of the estate overlooking the river to build nice new houses. I'm happy where I am and I don't want to be moved to a flat in the West End of Morecambe."

A pensioner who currently lives in a bungalow overlooking the Lune said: "They want to put me in a flat. They should spend the money doing up the houses and making them better. They've been neglected for years."

Another resident was upset that her house was not one of those earmarked for demolition but the general feeling of residents was one of uncertainty.

If Oakapple's plans are given the go-ahead the bulldozers could move in to clear the site within 12 months.

Cllr David Barker said he hoped residents would give the developers a chance.

He said: "I went with the residents to the Oakapple scheme in Birmingham and what we saw was fantastic. It was very well built, all the residents loved it and I would have been happy to live there. We also saw a site where old houses had just been refurbished and it was depressing, worse than Ryelands."

But Cllr John Barry added: "I am deeply concerned that by choosing a developer now, we have effectively given the green light for a large amount of demolition. Everyone wants to see a better estate but no plan will work unless it is backed by residents."

The scheme will be discussed again at a meeting in Morecambe Town Hall on July 10 at 7pm.

Let us know what you think about the proposals for Ryelands. Write to our lively letters pages with your views.