Trustees of The Lowry have called for plans to establish a £100m Royal Opera House (ROH) in Manchester to be scrapped over fears that the scheme could have a negative impact on the city's arts provision.

ROH and Manchester City Council are behind the proposals for the venue, which would provide a permanent second home for The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet from 2013, would result in a major overhaul for the city's existing Palace Theatre. However, the chair of the trustees of The Lowry, Rod Aldridge, said that the current plans do not offer the best option for establishing a new ROH base in the north of England and could even threaten the long-term viability of The Lowry itself, which opened nine years ago.

Aldridge said: "After many months of detailed work and consideration, it is clear that the current proposal is not viable and cannot be made to work without causing unacceptable damage to existing arts provision. "We remain committed to the overall vision of bringing the Royal Opera House to Manchester. That is why we propose a dual-house model, whereby the new facility would concentrate exclusively on opera and music, while The Lowry would consolidate its reputation as a world-beating centre for dance by providing a new home for the Royal Ballet."

In a statement, a ROH spokesperson expressed disappointment at The Lowry's "premature" decision to oppose the plans and insisted that the scheme remained viable despite the concerns raised by the trustees. The Lowry's calls to scrap the ROH proposals comes after an Arts Council England report revealed in March that the project was "not yet viable" due to the impact it could have on the area's existing arts infrastructure.