Bid to buy shopping parade on council agenda
HALTON Borough Council is looking into buying a Runcorn shopping parade.
A pre-agenda notice published online said the local authority’s executive board is to discuss the purchase of St Paul’s Mews on High Street on Thursday, February 17.
This section of the meeting is expected to take place behind closed doors and barred to the public and press under powers permitted under the Local Government Act 1972.
The pre-agenda notice said the reason for discussing the topic in private is to avoid influencing any other property dealings.
It said: “The council wishes to maintain its commercial property transactions and information relating to acquisition prices of property assets confidential, so that it does not prejudice its other property dealings and to protect the council’s commercial confidentiality.”
At present the shopping parade is occupied by businesses including barbers and kitchen and bathroom showroom.
No further details of Halton Council’s interest in the shopping parade have been published on the meeting agenda web page, but the building lies close to The Brindley theatre, which is to have a restaurant extension built as part of wider town centre regeneration plans and the development of the “Brindley green”.