Council ‘closing door’ on town, accuses critic

OFFICE BLOCK IS TO BE SOLD AFTER APPROVAL

REDCAR and Cleveland Council has been accused of “closing the door” on Guisborough after confirmation of plans to close one of its office blocks.

The council is to terminate a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract several years early, giving six months notice, and intends to put up Belmont House and the immediate land surrounding it off Rectory Lane, Guisborough, for sale or lease after approval was given by cabinet members.

Guisborough ward councillor Anne Watts claimed the local authority had “run down” Belmont House and said she had been told by officers the site would be sold for housing “if all else fails”.

Cllr Watts suggested the council was neglecting Guisborough and went so far as to suggest the town should seek to realign itself with North Yorkshire.

Guisborough was part of the North Riding of Yorkshire until a local Government reorganisation in 1974 saw it fall under the auspices of the then newly-established Cleveland County Council and become part of the Langbaurgh borough. The county council was abolished in 1996 and replaced by Redcar and Cleveland Council.

Cllr Watts said public transport between Guisborough and neighbouring towns was “dreadful” and described the town’s newly refurbished hospital as “nothing more than a 9 to 5 clinic”.

She said: “Closing Belmont House is the council’s final act of closing the door on Guisborough, but the people of Guisborough have always been strong and we have a beautiful town to fight for, even if we have to look to returning to North Yorkshire for a future.”

The independent councillor claimed Guisborough had just become a “cash cow” to the council “with all the new estates we had to accept”. Cllr Watts said Belmont House could be retained by the council as a centre for people for disabilities and as a business hub for artisan retailers in the town.

She said: “The ideas are there, but the cabinet and officers just don’t want to listen.” Cllr Watts said she had invited other ward councillors in Guisborough to get together to discuss alternative uses for Belmont House and also planned to meet with council leader Mary

Lanigan and managing director John Sampson.

Responding to Cllr Watts’ criticism, a council spokeswoman said under the terms of the PFI contract Belmont House had been well maintained, “but at a significant cost”. She said there were now fewer staff working in the building as a result of the council adopting hybrid working arrangements, which has meant more people working from home.

The spokeswoman said: “The site will be marketed with an open mind and we will assess the interest that comes back and any options that presents.”

The council entered into a PFI arrangement in 2002 with a private sector operator for the provision of office accommodation in Guisborough (Belmont House) and also in Redcar (Seafield House), along with a business centre in South Bank (South Tees Business Centre).

The contract, worth more than £38m, was for 25 years and involved the design, construction and financing of the buildings and their maintenance once operational. The council makes an agreed monthly payment, which increases by inflation each year, with the costs partfunded by the Government.

A cabinet report said terminating the arrangement early courtesy of an up-front ‘buyout premium’ payable to the PFI provider would allow more scope to rationalise surplus office accommodation currently held by the council.

The report said closing Belmont House would also help to avoid any increasing utility and running costs in the future.

The people of Guisborough have always been strong and we have a beautiful town to fight for

Cllr Anne Watts