REGENERATION gurus have been slammed for getting the plans for Barons Quay wrong as borough chiefs prepare for a near-£2 million hit this year.

Cheshire West and Chester Council is forecasting that the account for Barons Quay, in Northwich, will have a deficit of £1.871 million by the end of 2018-19, set to be covered by the council’s reserves.

That financial picture is worse than what was originally set out in the business case for the £80 million development following a slow start to lettings – and at a scrutiny committee meeting on Tuesday where the costs were considered, Cllr Ben Powell, Labour, hit out at bad advice given to the council on Barons Quay.

He said: “I remember at the time the reports came forward it was a grandiose scheme, we were told it would be self-financing when it was first proposed, and yet £1.87 million worth of money that could go anywhere in the budget is having to go to fill that up.

 

“We bring in consultants that we pay vast sums of money to give us advice on how we scope these schemes.

“And yet here we are in a position where what we were told at the time obviously isn’t stacking up. Those consultants are still sitting on their money.”

Renowned property consultants Rider Levett Bucknall advised CWAC on the £80 million Barons Quay development.

It was approved by the council in 2013 and its first three tenants – Asda, Odeon and Wildwood – opened their doors in 2016.

A wait of 22 months then followed before H&M opened as the fourth business on the site in October, while The Entertainer and Patisserie Valerie are also set to open in the coming months.

A report presented at Tuesday’s meeting suggested that in the early years of the development there are likely to be deficits ‘due to voids and tenant incentives’ – although CWAC still expects the net income of Barons Quay to cover its costs over a 25-year period.

Cllr David Armstrong, cabinet member for legal and finance, said: “I think there has very much been more positive news around Barons Quay, and I think it is something that the whole council can be pleased with how it has developed over the last year.

 

“But we live in a volatile world. Clearly what has happened in town centres has been particularly challenging for everybody.”