East Herts Council rejects Lib Dem plea to pause Old River Lane
A plea to East Herts Council (EHC) to pause a £23m investment in Bishop's Stortford has been rejected.
The town's Liberal Democrats urged the Conservative administration to put regeneration of The Causeway on hold, telling the executive that more time was needed to turn the Old River Lane scheme into one welcomed by residents.
At a meeting of the full council on Wednesday (March 1), Lib Dem opposition leader Cllr Mione Goldspink warned that borrowing to invest in plans which were not supported by neighbours could prove "foolish" in decades to come.
EHC has agreed to spend a total of £41.6m on several major projects between 2023-24 and 2027-28.
Funding for the new initiatives is set to come from a variety of sources – including grants and capital receipts from the sale of property, with external borrowing of £25.3m set to be the largest source across the four-year period.
But to balance its books, the cash-strapped authority has also gone through a cost-cutting process, putting together a list of projects worth an extra £9.6m which it must put on hold.
Cllr Goldspink said plans for Old River Lane should feature on that list. "We all know that the council's finances are very stretched at the moment," she said.
"We believe it would be most unwise to proceed with the Old River Lane proposals at the moment because there are serious flaws in the plans and they do not have the wholehearted support of the people of Bishop's Stortford.
"We think it would be foolish and possibly irresponsible to commit the council and the taxpayers of 30 years of repayment on a loan for a scheme which nobody wants.
"This is a scheme which people probably would not support or patronise, so it would not produce much income for the council."
EHC and its development partner Cityheart have put forward plans for a new public square, pedestrian-friendly streets, 150 new homes, 75 "extra care" dwellings, 1,000 sq m retail space, 3,500 sq m office building and a landmark £15.5m cinema-led arts centre.
The latter was originally intended to be a £30m project including a 544-seat theatre, but the auditorium was scrapped when the Covid-19 pandemic hit the council's finances.
That change and the proposed demolition of Charringtons House and Water Lane United Reformed Church Hall have fuelled opposition to the plans.
Cllr Goldspink said people from Bishop's Stortford "want to see something" on this site.
She said: "They want an excellent scheme and they view this as a fantastic opportunity to do something really good for the town. If we could just pause the scheme for a while and do a proper consultation, we would not only save on the council's expenditure but we would also achieve a financially secure and very attractive development."
The council recently invested in the new £22m Grange Paddocks Leisure Centre in the town, which opened in 2021.
Fellow Lib Dem Cllr Chris Wilson said it was easier to "predict the success" of Grange Paddocks because "the people in Bishop's Stortford were in support of it before it happened".
Cllr Wilson, who represents All Saints ward in the town, added: "There are warning signs here that the strength of feeling on Old River Lane is bigger than anything else I've seen in my four-year term.
"If we commit to 30 years of finances to that, we are being irresponsible in my view."
Cllr Geoffrey Williamson, the Conservative executive member for financial sustainability, said that putting the Old River Lane scheme into the list of approved but not fully-funded schemes would have little impact on the council's medium-term spending plans.
Speaking to the main portion of the budget, he said: "This administration has a proud record of producing budgets which show sound financial management and that protect front-line services, and our budget for this coming year is no exception."
Cllr Goldspink's suggestion was rejected by 27 votes to eight.
The council committed to making a £2m investment into Old River Lane in 2023-24, which rises to £12m in the following financial year.
Other major projects in the council's spending plans include a £24.11m investment in Hertford Theatre, including £10.6m in 2023-24. An £11.1m extension to Hartham Leisure Centre, also in Hertford, is due to be completed in the new financial year.
Approved projects which lack "committed" funding – and are paused as a result – include a £557,000 plan to buy and renovate flats for temporary accommodation in Queen's Road, Ware, a £1.1m investment in a leisure centre at Freman College in Buntingford and the £1.7m redevelopment of a shopping parade in Elizabeth Road, Bishop's Stortford.
