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05
Aug 2020
Vote tonight on £47m Harrogate Convention Centre redesign
Councillors will tonight vote on an in issue which has divided opinion across the district - an investment in Harrogate’s Convention Centre.
At a meeting of the borough council’s full council, a report will recommend that councillors back a £1 million spend on design costs and feasibility studies ahead of a phased £47 million renovation.
The authority said the investment, which would be one of the council's biggest ever financial decisions, is “much needed” to keep the town’s economy thriving.
Meanwhile, a confidential cabinet report leaked to the Stray Ferret warned the centre “will not survive” unless councillors approved the project.
The gravity and nature of the decision saw senior councillors on the authority's cabinet decide to refer the matter to full council in its entirety instead of voting to agree the £1 million spend.
Read more:
£60m or £35m: What is the value of Harrogate Convention Centre to the district?
District businesses’ ‘dismay’ over plans for £46.8m convention centre upgrade
- HCC upgrade : ‘£46.8m is enough to regain a strong place in the market’
But not all are convinced, the investment plan has divided opinion across the district as those in Ripon, Knaresborough and elsewhere have doubted what benefit it will have to them.
Today, Cllr Pauline McHardy, three-time Mayor of Ripon, urged fellow councillors to throw the plans out.
She described it as a millstone which would be tied around the district’s neck for years to come.
She said:
But, while there are echoes of doubt coming from the surrounding towns and villages, those in charge of the convention centre have stuck to their guns.
When senior councillors referred the matter to the full council, Pauline Lorimer,, director of the HCC, said the investment was necessary for the success of the district.
She said:
Councillors on the borough council will vote on the plans at a virtual meeting streamed live on YouTube tonight.
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