IS THE Musician's Co-op safe in the council's hands as Cllr Barker suggests? I hope so, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Last week 75 bands from in and outside the area used the co-op. It is a jewel in the city's crown and has cost the council virtually nothing. And yet it has been allowed to carry on its business in a building with a leaking roof.

Three years ago councillors backed my motion to give the co-op a new lease and yet it didn't happen. Now that motion has been rescinded.

Instead, the new motion says that replacement facilities will be provided as part of the devel-opment'. This is an aspiration, with no guarantee it will happen.

The devil is in the detail. The co-op currently has four recording studios with a fifth on the way, Is the council going to make the developers provide something on this scale and will the co-op be able to afford the rent?

And suppose that it cannot. What happens then? And why doesn't the council just save the public a lot of money and simply repair the current building?

I have seen similar things happen before and have yet to see a successful outcome. The Navigation canalside pub was the obvious example where a motion called on the Council to negotiate with developers to provide a replacement. It didn't happen.

The musician's co-op report was classified as exempt' and was not available to the public or press beforehand. It was only on the day when it was discussed that I was able to argue successfully for the exemption to be lifted. So where do we go from here?

I think the council has made a bad decision to allow a developer to make the running on what happens on its own land. All we can do now is fight to get the best we can out of this deal.

Cllr Jon Barry, Lancaster.