We must not squander once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for town, says MP
CONCERN THAT LONG EATON COULD MISS FUNDING DEADLINE TO REDEVELOP DERELICT CINEMA
LONG Eaton risks missing out on a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity and local leadership would only be able to blame themselves, a meeting has heard.
At an Erewash Borough Council meeting, members of the Long Eaton Town Deal Board discussed the risks facing the authority’s Galaxy Row Cinema project.
There are real risks over the council’s redevelopment of the former cinema but it has sought to row back on comments made about that threat by its own finance chief.
Erewash MP Maggie Throup told the meeting she first found out about the threat that the project could be reduced or scrapped through a news article.
And board chairman Richard Ledger said he also found out about the hazards facing the scheme through the same piece.
Officials at the meeting said that they did not dispute the content of the article, which contained comments Saverio Della Rocca, the council’s director of resources, made during a meeting of the authority’s executive at Ilkeston Town Hall on February 27.
Mr Della Rocca had said: “There are one or two projects where we need to consider whether we should continue or whether we should stop a project or do something different.”
During Friday’s meeting, Steve Birkinshaw, the council’s head of planning, said the current “worst possible scenario” was for the Galaxy Row project in Derby Road, to slip past the March 2025 Government funding deadline.
He said there had been “an element of slippage” across all projects but said “the outlier is the Galaxy Row project”.
Mr Birkinshaw said the council has been flexible with its projects to date, including delaying for wet weather, the bankruptcy of a contractor and work on West Park to avoid clashes with Bonfire Night and the carnival.
He said: “Going forward we will not have the flexibility to accommodate these types of delays. We may have to take some harder decisions because we will not have time to trade off. The time will come for challenging decisions and we will have to take clear and decisive action.”
A total of £25 million was awarded to the council from the Town Deal Fund in 2021 and three years later the authority is facing the prospect of having to hand some of that money back.
A representative from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DELUC) told the meeting that the Government wants to see the projects it backed come to fruition but has not yet offered any form of extensions.
The representative said: “The last thing you want to do is hand the money back and say you can’t deliver a project.”
Mr Birkinshaw confirmed the authority had been “most certainly been banging on that specific door” and has been asking if money could be released to allow the council the funding even if it would not all be spent until after the deadline. No assurance had yet come.
Mrs Throup said: “I was very concerned to read the director of resources’ comments. That was extremely worrying for me. I understand what you are saying about the flooding etc. If we had known about the weather we might have done things differently.
“The £25 million is a once-in-ageneration opportunity to do something and we need to look at this seriously. We need to think about what doing something different is. We need every resource in place to maximise the £25 million. Erewash and Long Eaton has never had that £25 million in one go and we need to make sure we don’t squander it.”
Council chief executive Jeremy Jaroszek said: “I am aware of the press coverage. We need to be careful not to over-dramatise the position but I need to talk about theoretical possibilities. We need to remind ourselves that the projects are being financed by the Government and there are conditions and requirements of that.
“There is the possibility that the outputs will not be delivered by the deadline. There is the possibility that the Government says ‘you have not met the outcomes, we need our money back’ and these are extreme possibilities but I think it would be premature to get nervous or excited about that now.
“I can assure you that council officers are in touch with civil servants to do what we can. As far as we are concerned there are mechanisms (for an extension or rejigging of the funding arrangements) and we’re banging on the door asking for it.”
Mr Ledger added: “We weren’t aware of how bad things are being portrayed.
“The first I heard that the council was considering dropping projects was in a newspaper article. If you are really considering that, we shouldn’t be hearing about it in the newspaper. We know the rules and the Government has given us an opportunity and if we don’t draw down that money ... and we don’t take that opportunity then the only people we can blame is ourselves.”
Tom Haddock, head of property, said that it was “prudent and right” that the authority prepare for the “worst case scenario”.
Gary Smith, director of resources, said: “The council isn’t actively considering dropping any project. It is considering risks and scenarios but we remain optimistic. There is an obvious issue with the Galaxy Row timeline but not an insurmountable one necessarily.”
The council said that negotiations over the sale of the former Long Eaton cinema and two adjoining properties were ongoing and if prices were agreed then this would speed up the timeline. However, as it stands, the council was going through the compulsory purchase of the properties and this would be handled by the Planning Inspectorate.
A 14-month delay was forecast. In short, the plan for the cinema was to buy it, demolish it and build 16 flats, four houses and three shops, costing £5 million to £9 million.