Following on from last night’s council meeting where approval was given to progress with the purchase of Fresnhey Place, here is the full speech given by the leader of the council, Coun Philip Jackson.
“This administration’s approach to delivering transformational local economic prosperity is focused on driving economic growth, accelerating housing delivery, education and skills, and town centre regeneration.
“The proposed intervention we are discussing this evening, the acquisition of Freshney Place, would give the council an unprecedented strategic anchor in the town centre and a platform to drive the much-needed changes our residents and visitors want and expect.
“Let me be clear. As a Conservative, I would not normally support a local authority buying and operating a shopping centre. It is not our core business, and we don’t have the necessary in-house skills and experience. It should normally be the preserve of the private sector.
“However, over the past few months, I have become increasingly convinced that the acquisition of Freshney Place is the ONLY way to ensure we can deliver the transformation of the urban heart of Grimsby, including the Future High Streets Fund (FHSF) project and the six Towns Fund projects. My fellow cabinet members unanimously share this view, hence the recommendation from cabinet to tonight’s meeting to proceed with the purchase.
“If we don’t buy the centre, given the changing dynamics in the shopping centre market, there is a real risk the centre would be acquired by an opportunistic revenue-driven investor who would be highly unlikely to expend any material capital and look to extract as much revenue as possible. This is increasingly what is happening up and down the country. If that happened, the decline of Freshney Place and the heart of our town centre would be devastating, and it would put our other planned regeneration initiatives at risk. Moreover, the centre makes up 60% of the town centre’s retail offer, supporting one in five jobs within that area.
“The move to secure the centre will safeguard a critical part of Grimsby town centre’s economic and community infrastructure. Ensuring it retains a competitive retail and service offer is key to safeguarding up to 1700 jobs within Freshney Place and Top Town Market.
“If we approve this tonight, subject to due diligence, we would be looking to appoint external asset managers with extensive experience to run the centre on a day-to-day basis, reporting to us on a regular basis, but with the council taking an ‘arms-length’ approach. Let me make it very clear. We would NOT be acquiring Freshney Place to try to run it better than the private sector has in the recent past or might in the future. To enable town centre regeneration to continue, Freshney Place must have a stable future. If it becomes council-owned, it will mean that we could take Freshney Place into account when we’re looking at the transformation of the whole of our town centre, potentially bringing in different offers, using the centre in different, more modern and imaginative ways, to reduce its current over-reliance on retail. It would also give ongoing confidence to the major anchor tenants within the centre, tenants who currently must have serious concerns about the centre’s future and their ongoing commitment to it.
“In terms of getting to this point in the acquisition process, once we knew Freshney Place was going into receivership and would potentially be placed on the open market, we have been led by expert external advice every step of the way and have undertaken significant due diligence.
“The purchase price, which remains confidential for commercial reasons, will be subject to an external third-party valuation to give final assurance before the site is acquired, subject to the decision of Full Council tonight. In recent weeks, there has, understandably, been considerable speculation in the local media as to what the purchase price might be. The figure of £20 million has been bandied about. I can tell the council, and the public of North East Lincolnshire, that the figure will be significantly LESS than that. Bearing in mind that Freshney Place last changed hands in the early 2000s for around £100 million, this shows how affordable it has become.
“Subject to us agreeing the acquisition, the ongoing revenue costs associated with the shopping centre will be met from rental income, and modelling by external experts predicts an income SURPLUS which will be ringfenced to reinvest in the site.
“If we agree the acquisition, this will enable the council to move forward to deliver the FHSF cinema, leisure, market hall, food hall and public realm remodelling scheme at the western end of Freshney Place. This is unlikely to proceed if we don’t own the centre, for all the reasons set out in the report in front of you this evening.
“In connection with that, I can tonight tell council that The Parkway Entertainment Company, which currently has multiplex cinemas in Cleethorpes, Louth, Beverley and Barnsley has today announced that it will be taking on the multiscreen cinema space being built as part of the FHSF scheme. This follows more than 18 months of discussions with them, and they are genuinely very excited about the opportunity, believing it will complement rather than compete with their cinema in Cleethorpes.
“I’m really pleased to have the Parkes family take the option on this cinema space – to have a local family-business believe in plans and want to expand into Grimsby is great news, and I look forward to working with them through the rest of the scheme.
“So, I believe I have set out a compelling case for why this council should acquire Freshney Place at this time. Yes, there are risks associated with it, risks which are clearly set out in tonight’s report. However, they are understood and can be mitigated. The greater risk is NOT proceeding with the acquisition. Doing nothing is not an option.
“Members may also be reassured that we are not alone in undertaking this sort of intervention in our town More than 30 other local authorities up and down the country have, or are in the process of, purchasing similar town and city centre sites and are already making significant progress with their respective masterplans.
“It just remains for me to move recommendation two from Cabinet to facilitate progressing with the Freshney Place acquisition. I look forward to an open and transparent debate this evening about what is undoubtedly one of the biggest decisions this council has been asked to make. I hope council will support the acquisition.”
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