A CAMPAIGN group has been launched in support of York's controversial Coppergate Riverside scheme - just before the big public inquiry begins.

Friends Of Riverside (FOR) claims it "represents the voice of York's silent majority, those many thousands of York citizens who want to see the scheme go ahead."

Several organisations have been actively opposing Land Securities' plans to redevelop land between Clifford's Tower and Piccadilly.

But FOR claims that if the "well-organised voice of opposition" succeeds in blocking the proposals, Piccadilly will remain in a tatty state and other potential city centre investors will lose patience and confidence.

"FOR's concern is that credible investors of the size and with the resources to bring the regeneration that our city so badly needs will simply see York as a "no-go" area and look elsewhere," said FOR chairman Trevor Kidd, who plans to speak in support of the proposals at the public inquiry which starts on January 15.

He said the group had been formed by a group of York residents, initially from the Piccadilly area but now with growing support from across the city and nearby villages.

He said it had no connection with Land Securities and had not received any funding or other support from the company.

The group, which claims a hundred members, is kicking off its campaign by delivering leaflets to 10,000 shops and homes across the city, and it has also printed 500 posters.

The leaflet says properly conducted market research across the city has shown that "ordinary citizens" support the plans, as does English Heritage and City of York Council's planning committee.

It says projects such as Coppergate Riverside, which were "respectful and sensitive to the city's past," must be allowed to go ahead.

And it urges the otherwise silent majority to make its voice heard at the inquiry.

The leaflet also delivers a stinging criticism of opponents of the scheme: "What now stands in the way of the development is a relatively small but well-organised group of people - many of them self-appointed and with interests of their own to protect - who make a point of saying no, because they either lack foresight or fear the consequences of change."

But Gordon Campbell Thomas, spokesman for one of the leading Coppergate Riverside opposition groups Castle Area Campaign, hit back today at FOR's claims, saying: "We would demand proof that they speak for the people of York."

He said CAC had got nearly 6,000 signatures to a petition calling for the public inquiry, and in the region of 2,000 calling for a green and public space around the tower, which would be presented to the inquiry.

"We have gone out and spoken to the people of York and held public meetings," he said, adding: "When have they held a public meeting?"

Updated: 08:25 Friday, January 04, 2002