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Aug 2020

Last Updated: 05/08/2020

Politics

Vote tonight on £47m Harrogate Convention Centre redesign

by Calvin Robinson

| 05 Aug, 2020

Councillors will tonight vote on £1 million design costs ahead of a £47 million investment into Harrogate Convention Centre. Not all in the district are convinced.

Harrogate Convention Centre

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.

£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:

“I think it’s totally wrong for Harrogate Borough Council to even be considering spending money of this magnitude, while there are so many other things that need support in places such as Boroughbridge, Knaresborough, Pateley Bridge, Spofforth and here in this city.”

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:

“We need this redevelopment not only to drive more conferences, but for the district and the community.

“We run school events, remembrance events, entertainment, orchestras and community groups.

“We do a great deal to support the community and the revenue we provide goes back into the council.

“What comes into us ripples out into the district. We need a successful HCC.”

Councillors on the borough council will vote on the plans at a virtual meeting streamed live on YouTube tonight.

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Vote tonight on £47m Harrogate Convention Centre redesign

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