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14
Jul 2020
Questions remaining over council's civic centre move
More than two-and-a-half years after HBC moved into its new civic centre, there are still question marks over some of the logic and decision-making involved.
After our in-depth investigation, The Stray Ferret would like to know:
- Full details of which other sites were considered and how the costs of these were calculated
- Why the council didn’t apply for planning permission for homes at Knapping Mount to assess its true market value
- Why a town centre base was deemed essential – even though Knapping Mount is in a largely residential area
- Why such an unusual design was chosen and whether more traditional options were costed up before the decision was made
- The detail of the financial claim made by Harry Fairclough Ltd to HBC, which the authority disputes
- The full costs on top of the build, including all fixtures and fittings - IT, flooring, furniture and other essentials
- Why the publicly discussed cost of the project not take account of the value of the land on which the civic centre was built
In its preparations, HBC said the new civic centre represented “good value and careful use of public money”. Our investigation calls into question whether that was the case.
It is now for the public to decide whether £17m really represents the best possible use of public funds.
Read more:
- Revealed: The true cost of Harrogate's civic centre
- The design choices that pushed up the price of Harrogate's civic centre
- The option dismissed by HBC that could have saved £7m
- Parking, efficiencies and devolution: is the civic centre delivering value for money?
As the council faces unprecedented financial challenges and a possible £15m deficit, with inevitable cuts to services ahead, could more prudent choices over the civic centre have placed it in a better position to support local residents?
And with the looming possibility of changes to the structure of local government in North Yorkshire, was it prudent for the council to invest so much money in a headquarters that may not be needed within just a few years of being completed?
The National Audit Office, which examines local councils’ use of taxpayers’ money, says:
The council's external auditors have signed off the accounts for the years when those decisions were made.
So we ask taxpayers: was it worth it?
The Stray Ferret has today asked Harrogate Borough Council for a response to our investigation and will publish this when it is received.
Since publication of our first reports yesterday, the council has posted a series of tweets responding to our findings and questioning our sources.
In the course of our investigation, The Stray Ferret contacted and interviewed a number of established, independent estate agents, architects and quantity surveyors. Each gave us their honest opinion based on their expertise but, as they all work in the local area, they asked us not to identify them in our reports.
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