£2m TAXPAYER LOAN FOR ASSAULT COURSE AT COOMBE ABBEY
A £1.95 million council loan to help facilitate a new high-wire assault course at Coombe Abbey Country Park has been criticised as “putting taxpayer’s money at risk”.
Coventry City Council’s cabinet has agreed to a capital loan of £1.95m for Coombe Abbey Park Ltd, which will pay for a ‘GoApe’ assault course and a cafe.
The Labour group says funding the attraction will help bring in “substantial revenue” to the council-owned Coombe Abbey Park Ltd, the operator of Coombe Abbey Hotel.
The council bought the hotel for a reported £11 million at the end of last year.
But the Conservative opposition say they are using taxpayers’ money “like a real life game of monopoly”, accusing them of running a “Fawlty Towers fantasy”.
Cllr Gary Ridley (Con, Woodlands), leader of the Conservatives, said outside of the meeting: “I’m not sure what qualifies a local authority to run a hotel and they should never have purchased it in the first place.
“This loan is another example of poor leadership from this failing Labour administration which seems determined to put more taxpayer’s money at risk.
“They should ditch this Fawlty Towers fantasy as soon as possible and focus on their core mission of providing services to the people of Coventry.
“At the moment it feels more like a real life game of monopoly and it’s the people of Coventry who’ll pick up the tab.”
The loan will be made available over the next 10 years and is subject to interest.
At the meeting, Cllr Tim Sawdon (Con, Wainbody) said: “If this was a risk-free investment we would be very enthusiastic, as it is not a risk-free investment we are not very enthusiastic.”
Cllr Jim O’Boyle (Lab, St Michael’s), Cabinet Member for Jobs and Regeneration, said the investment will be recouped by the assault course revenue.
He said: “The logic behind this is to actually create more revenue coming into the hotel and as 100 per cent shareholder the local authority will get dividend at the end of the year.
“We believe there will be substantial revenue coming into the local authority following this investment.
“That is important and just adds to the overall offer that makes it a more viable visitor experience which will benefit the local authority to bring more investment to services.”
Cllr John Mutton (Lab, Binley and Willenhall), Cabinet Member for Strategic Finance and Resources, added: “The high-wire assault course is the kind of thing that really does interest younger people.”
The loan will be formally approved by full council on October 16.