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17
Mar
Deputy council leader defends Harrogate Convention Centre upgrade after £2.3m hike in cost
A plan to upgrade Harrogate Convention Centre is still a “positive business case” despite a £2.3 million increase in cost, a senior councillor has said.
Last week, the council revealed the cost to reconfigure studio two at the centre to create additional breakout space had soared from an estimated £7.1 million in December 2024 to £9.4 million.
Increasing breakout space is seen as key to attracting larger conferences and generating more income.
Creating breakout facilities for 1,200 delegates could generate an extra £1.7 million annually, the authority has claimed.
At a meeting of the council’s Conservative-controlled executive today (March 17), Cllr Gareth Dadd, the deputy leader, said the project still represented a “positive business case”.
He said the increase in cost was down to the contract tender process and inflation.
Cllr Dadd added that the hike in cost would also mean the time period for payback for the project would need to be extended.
He said:
The estimated cost would have given us a payback over eight years. The new tender price given inflation — and everybody recognises inflation — will give us a payback over 10 years.
So, a slightly worsened situation but still a positive business case.
A council report before today’s executive said that the December 2024 estimate of £7.1 million was a “high level, desk-based estimate based on outline design information”.
Council officials then carried out a “pre-tender estimate” of £8.4 million, which followed a “year of inflation and detailed design development”.
A "lid-off" architect's CGI of how Studio 2 will be reconfigured.
The further rise to £9.4 million was attributed to the contract tender process, which the council's in-house property management company Align Property Services deemed to be at "market value rates”.
However, details of the contract — which are included in the papers at the executive meeting — have been kept secret from the public.
Senior councillors voted to approve the funding and the award of a contract for the construction at the meeting today.
Cllr Simon Myers, executive councillor for culture, arts and housing, said:
I think the point here is that it is still a sound business case. It still has the same economic benefits to Harrogate and will hopefully lead to the convention centre one day being self-sustaining in one form or another. It still makes sense.
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