Halt plans to borrow a further £45m to refurbish Newcastle Civic Centre

Halt plans to borrow a further £45m to refurbish Newcastle Civic Centre

The Issue

At a time when Newcastle City Council is cutting jobs and services and is unwilling or unable to fund libraries, pools, parks, street cleaning, and pavement repairs, it is unacceptable and inappropriate to significantly increase the council's debt to fund refurbishment of the Civic Centre and its offices - it is madness to borrow £45 million to make £32 million in long term savings. The residents and council taxpayers of Newcastle City Council demand that the council leadership rethink this unnecessary, ill-considered, and out of touch plan. 

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Newcastle Liberal DemocratsPetition Starter
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This petition had 155 supporters

The Issue

At a time when Newcastle City Council is cutting jobs and services and is unwilling or unable to fund libraries, pools, parks, street cleaning, and pavement repairs, it is unacceptable and inappropriate to significantly increase the council's debt to fund refurbishment of the Civic Centre and its offices - it is madness to borrow £45 million to make £32 million in long term savings. The residents and council taxpayers of Newcastle City Council demand that the council leadership rethink this unnecessary, ill-considered, and out of touch plan. 

avatar of the starter
Newcastle Liberal DemocratsPetition Starter
Media enquiries

The Decision Makers

Newcastle City Council
Newcastle City Council
Responded
“Cabinet Member for Investment and Development, Cllr Ged Bell, said: “In the last five years Newcastle City Council has saved £151m – more than many other councils. This has been made possible by being bold and innovative. We face another five years of austerity and must step up our efforts to save more money so we can protect frontline services from savage cuts. So far we have saved £1 million from making some initial changes to the Civic Centre – and encouraged by this we want to extend the upgrade to the whole of the building. This £45 million investment – paid for by prudential borrowing at low rates of interest and not borne by the tax payer – will be paid back by avoiding costly repairs to the crumbling fabric of the building and generating new income from renting out the rest of the building to other public sector organisations. We will use the savings to pay back the £45m development costs and save an extra £32 million on top of that which we will use to protect frontline services. Doing nothing and allowing the building to deteriorate at great cost to the tax payer does not make economic sense. Investing in our biggest physical asset and using it to make money to fund vital public services does make sense. This is not a vanity project but a necessity if we are to protect the frontline in the face of unprecedented Government cuts.””

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Petition created on 15 July 2015