Lancaster City Council Cabinet agreed to submit a bid for the 'Sea Change' money on the basis that if successful, it would go towards helping to re-open the old theatre.

This was on condition that a further report should be made on the implications for the Council acting as accountable body for this project and to agree any requirements that may need to be specified to the Winter Gardens Trust to protect the Council's position, following a full project appraisal.

Coun Evelyn Archer, chair of the Friends of the Winter Gardens and also a Cabinet member, declared an interest and was not present for the vote on the recommendation, which was proposed by the Council's leader Coun Roger Mace.

At the same Cabinet meeting, councillors also agreed to authorise a project to clear the derelict Harbour Band Arena and lay it out as open space for the amenity of the public, and also to remove the originally planned Central Park project from the West End Masterplan .