Council meeting is no joke
LABOUR CHIEFS RESPOND AFTER TORY COUNCILLOR HITS OUT OVER LAUGHTER
A Conservative councillor has criticised Sunderland Labour bosses for “laughing” at a question about construction delays on a new city centre hotel.
Coun Michael Dixon asked for an update on the construction of the fourstar hotel proposed for High Street West, Keel Square, which was scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2018.
The Cairn Group-led project aims to provide a 120-room building creating 130 jobs, with all funding and legal documentation currently in place.
Sunderland City Council’s (SCC) housing and regeneration head, Coun Stuart Porthouse, speaking at the authority’s full council meeting on June 20, said the start date would be “later this year”.
The meeting heard this was due to a developer review and build costs.
When asked for a “more specific” start date by Coun Dixon, SCC’s deputy leader Michael Mordey was heard saying “before December 31”, with the chamber erupting in laughter.
CounDixon,ofStMichaels ward, has since criticised the response at the Sunderland Civic Centre meeting.
He said “Keel Square, next to this new hotel, and the streets surrounding, are part of a massively important area for the future economic prosperity of our city.
“Any genuine cause for concern about a stalled development should never have been the source of amusement.”
Coun Porthouse responded: “It’s certainly no laughing matter when Coun Dixon misses a point that it’s this council which has invested millions into our city and helped create the environment that is attracting investors, delayed or not.”