Parties point fingers over East Herts Council plans to spend extra £6m on £30m theatre for Hertford

Green Party and Liberal Democrat plans for East Herts Council to cough up another £6m to complete Hertford Theatre at a cost of more than £30m is a “slap in the face” in the face for Bishop’s Stortford.

The administration’s determination to finish the scheme while shelving proposals for a £15.5m arts centre at Old River Lane will be voted on at an extraordinary meeting of the full council on Thursday (January 18).

Meanwhile, the proposed bail-out has provoked a furious row and finger-pointing.

Cllr Carl Brittain (Green, Hertford Kingsmead), the council’s executive member for financial sustainability, said: “We are proposing that East Herts Council agrees to pay an additional £6m to complete the Hertford Theatre project.”

His party is the council’s largest, with 17 seats, and he said: “The extra funding needed is mostly due to inflation and it’s critical to finish the theatre/cinema complex as quickly as we can to start repaying the debt and generating income for the district.

“We have managed to secure a contribution from Hertford Town Council, which we’re very grateful for.

“All this comes at a time when we’re financially challenged as a council but we believe the only option is to complete the project as planned.

“And it’s important to stress what a fantastic entertainment complex will be for the whole district - it’s an incredibly exciting project that will create job opportunities for local people. We can’t wait for it to open for everyone in the community to enjoy.”

In a statement, the Greens’ coalition partners, the 10 Liberal Democrats, backed that view and went further, saying the theatre revenue would stop the council from going bankrupt and blaming the previous Tory administration for the financial crisis.

The party said: “There are various complex reasons for the fact that the project for improvements has suffered from overspending, which is of course a source of regret.

“This decision to give more money will be a very bitter pill for councillors to swallow. It comes as a result of the reckless decisions which the Conservative administration made in 2018 and re-affirmed in 2022.

“The Lib Dems warned that it was most unwise to embark on so many capital projects all at the same time. The fundings were proposed to be found from borrowing, which of course, would have to be repaid.

“The Lib Dems were worried about so much borrowing, but their warnings were mocked and derided.

The Lib Dems have now been proved to be right. The costs for Hertford Theatre have risen dramatically, and so has the cost of borrowing.

“The only practical course of action which is open to the council is to pay to complete the project, to finish the theatre, and thus enable the theatre to generate some income.

“This income can then be used to begin to pay off the debt. Without this income, the council would not be able to produce a balanced budget and could be subject to a Section 114 report, effectively declaring itself to be bankrupt.

Cllr Mione Goldspink (Lib Dem, Bishop’s Stortford North) is also the council’s deputy leader and executive member for neighbourhoods. She said: “I am furious that the Tories have left us in such a financial mess over this project. But, for the sake of the district and all our residents, we have no choice but to agree to the extra funding.”

Executive member for resident engagement Cllr Chris Wilson (Lib Dem, Bishop’s Stortford All Saints) said: “We want to assure residents that this is not about Hertford being prioritised over Bishop’s Stortford, but a matter of timing, and the Old River Lane project has not been forgotten.”

Leader of the 16-seat Conservative group, Cllr Bob Deering (Con, Hertford Rural) said Cllr Goldspink’s comments were ridiculous.

He said: “Cllr Goldspink, was a councillor for the full four-year term prior to the elections in May 2023.

“As such, she sat through four annual budget debates and had all the budget papers each year. She should have read all those papers and been fully familiar with the budget position.

“In claiming otherwise she was either asleep at the wheel or misled voters at the elections.

“She’s also inconsistent. She says the Lib Dems ‘advised’ against funding the theatre when she was in opposition but she’s now part of an administration proposing substantial further investment. Work that one out.

“The real question is whether the Lib Dems have the appetite to do anything that will actually benefit the residents of East Hertfordshire.

“It was the Conservatives who initiated the revitalisation of Grange Paddocks. Hertford Theatre is our scheme and will bring energy and business into the town just as the Old River Lane development would have done for Bishops Stortford had it not been mothballed by the new Green/Lib Dem coalition.

“It’s very good to see Cllr Wilson telling us that Old River Lane is not forgotten but what, if anything, is he going to do about it?”

Cllr David Jacobs (Lab, Bishop’s Stortford Central) leads his party’s five members and said: “The announcement that the Hertford Theatre project is now forecasting a further £6m overspend, with potentially more to come, is shocking.

“Since the contract to the construction company was let in 2022 for £18.8m the budget has now leapt to over £30m.

“The expanded and improved Hertford Theatre will be a major asset for East Herts and it goes without saying that we all want to see it completed. But that doesn’t mean that we should be writing suppliers a blank cheque.

“The council’s leadership managing the project must explain to residents how this overspend has come about, and what they are doing to stop further increases.

“Residents in Bishop’s Stortford will see this decision as a slap in the face given that it follows so quickly behind the removal of funding for an arts element of the Old River Lane project. Stortford is being left behind.

“Equally, residents in Buntingford who have seen their swimming pool closed due to funding cuts will struggle to understand why Hertford once again gets the funding denied to other parts of the district.

“The suggestion that income from the theatre could save East Herts Council from bankruptcy is nonsensical.

“There are very few if any provincial theatres that operate at a profit. Even prestigious theatres such as the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre receive significant Government subsidies.

“Closer to home, South Mill Arts receives an annual subsidy of £250,000 from Bishop’s Stortford Town Council.

”The Green/Lib Dem administration has already used the threat of ‘bankruptcy’ to force through the development of Old River Lane. It wasn’t a coherent threat then and it is not now.

“Finally, councillors are also being asked to approve the sale of council assets to raise the £6m without any indication of what those assets might be and to make this decision outside the context of the normal budget setting process. The administration must explain why this matter needs to be rushed through in this manner.”