Liverpool asks for culture loan
What do you think about this story - should Liverpool take out the loan ? Who or what is responsible for the
budget deficits
?
http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0...name_page.html
LIVERPOOL City Council faces having to borrow up to £20m next year to pay for its year as European Capital
of Culture.
The alternative is massive cuts in services, or searching for major cost-cutting efficiencies, councillors were warned last night by
resources chief Phil Halsall.
Communities and Local Government Secretary Ruth Kelly is now likely to be asked to allow Liverpool to take out a
government-backed loan to pay for its culture celebrations in 2008. Normally, Chancellor Gordon Brown’s Treasury will only permit local councils to borrow
money to pay for projects, rather than one-off events.
But city council finance managers will argue that Liverpool will reap the benefits of its 2008
Capital of Culture year for years, making borrowing the cash a credible solution to a potential financial dilemma. If the Treasury allows a loan to be paid
back over a number of years, it will enable local politicians to spread the cost of the culture programme. Instead of finding all of the money in one year,
the council would pay off a few million a year until the loan was cleared, softening the impact on council operations.
Last night, city council leader
Cllr Warren Bradley insisted that a money-raising formula made sense for Capital of Culture. “There are ways of raising money on assets owned by the council
to use for Capital of Culture. I would only want any such arrangement to be for a short-term period,” he said.
As well as potential loan arrangements,
Cllr Bradley believes the council could raise culture cash by leasing brownfield sites to developers and diverting the cash they pay for the land into the
culture budget.
Opposition leader Cllr Joe Anderson said the council should have been putting money aside since 2003 when it first won the culture
crown. “By 2008, we will have had five years to save up for European Capital of Culture. It is not as though it has suddenly been sprung upon us.”
The
spending dilemma comes as leading Liberal Democrat councillors, helped by finance managers, look at ways of balancing the council books by next week when the
council meets to fix its budget for 2007-08.
Last night, with just over a week to go, the gap in the budget stood at £23.6m, a figure that has to be
reduced to nil by a week tomorrow.
Next year, the predicted budget gap in Liverpool will rocket to almost £39m, mainly due to Capital of Culture
costs. The council already knows that it is facing a budget deficit of £32.9m by 2009.
What's the best thing to do when you ae skint
Yeah go out and buy 10 x £2000 robotic peregrine falcons, jsut what the spin doctor ordered
Chickens home coming roost to
Re arrange this well know phrase.....lets ask Mr Halsall (wasnt he named as one of the EvilCabal, didnt his son's band support Status Quo at the summer pops)how many kids need to go to Colomendy to cover the 25 million shortfall.
Maybe the rest of Britain should go someway to subsidising the CofC just like the rest of the country is going to have to cough up for the Olympics in London, they are already raiding the lottery, 20 odd million is a drop in the ocean, but I do have the feeling that the council thought there would be more "sponsors" than appeared. I mean one of the main sponsors is "Sayers" for god sake, fresh pasties for everyone,so much for healthy eating
Alternative sources of money are needed
THE impact of European Capital of Culture 2008 upon us all cannot be over-estimated. The number of cranes dotting the skyline and workmen busily laying the foundation bricks are constant reminders of the city's rise in status and opportunity. more
£20m culture debt TB cleared?
Jan 5 2008 Exclusive by David Bartlett
A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE land- owner has offered to plug Liverpool’s £20m 2008 shortfall in exchange for land and planning permission to build a retail park.
Derwent Holdings, owned by Isle of Man-based property owner Albert Gubay, wants to redevelop its Edge Lane retail park and other property it owns in the area.
See Grotspots Thread
In a letter to council leader Cllr Warren Bradley, which has been obtained by the Liverpool Daily Post, Derwent has offered to buy the adjoining Rathbone Road Recreation Ground for development.
In the letter, one of Mr Gubay’s representatives, Peter Willers, said the offer was “made in good faith to help with the apparent shortage of funds”. Liverpool City Council and Derwent have been in a dispute for a number of years over what form the firm’s plans for the area should take.
The council is currently locked in a legal battle with Mr Gubay over the state of the derelict Rugs 2 Go and Klaussners stores, the ex-Advent car showroom and a huge pile of rubble, which was once the Traveller’s Rest pub.
The council has demanded that he demolish the dilapidated buildings and tidy up the sites while they work out a long-term plan.
A hearing in November was adjourned and is likely to reconvene at a yet-to-be decided date before March.
The Daily Post was last night unable to contact Cllr Bradley or Derwent Holdings for comment.
But city’s regeneration leader Cllr Mike Storey said: “The council and its partners have invested a considerable amount of money to improve the quality of Edge Lane.
“It is disappointing that this particular landowner and developer has sought over a number of months to leave his property holdings in a derelict state. Any negotiations over the regeneration of the Edge Lane retail provision should be done in a proper manner.
“At the same time, (we) will continue to pursue through the due legal process this particular landowner and developer, who has left his buildings in a derelict state.”
The council is still currently waiting to hear if the Government whether it will be allow it to fund the £20m Capital of Culture shortfall from sales of land and buildings.
The letter from Derwent, that was circulated to a number of councillors, stated: “Over the Christmas and New Year recess, we have been giving some thought to our landholdings... in Edge Lane, the Rathbone Recreation Park and the current problems surrounding the 2008 European Capital of Culture.
“We therefore wish to make an offer of £20m to acquire from the council the Rathbone Road Recreation Park, being the land edged red on the attached plan, and will exchange contracts within seven working days of your agreement and thereafter will complete such acquisition within seven working days of outline planning permission being granted.
“We will, following consultation with your planning officer, make a single overall outline planning application on our retail holdings in Edge Lane, including the Rathbone Road Recreation Park at a coverage of 45%.
“Such application will be made within seven days of our exchange of contracts for the acquisition of the Rathbone Road Recreation Park.
“This offer is made in good faith to help with the apparent shortage of funds as set out in the press and to enable Edge Lane to be redeveloped to the satisfaction and benefit of all.
“This will also enable all the other current Edge Lane problems to the satisfaction and benefit of all.”
At the city’s executive board yesterday, leading councillors demanded that Derwent’s “eyesore” sites on Edge Lane be cleared up during the city’s flagship Capital of Culture year.
Cllr Berni Turner said she thought the site was being deliberately allowed to fall into ruin to force the council into a corner. “Quite frankly, I have thought about stopping traffic on Edge Lane with banners to bring this issue to the forefront.”
Cllr Paul Clein said: “I think it is outrageous. It’s a key year for the city. Tens, hundreds of thousands of people will be visiting.”
In the summer, Derwent said its £200m proposals would see:
Edge Lane retail park demolished and replaced with modern shops and leisure facilities, owith most of the current stores moving into the new premises. Offices and a hotel would also be built;
A central boulevard through the rebuilt retail park, with views over the city centre;
The notorious Rugs 2 Go and Klaussner site transformed into housing;
The derelict Advent car showroom demolished and replaced with leisure facilities;
Mill Lane’s former factory site in Mill Lane, off Edge Lane, redeveloped into mall industrial units and homes.
Cllr Paul Brant, opposition regeneration leader, said: “I am deeply concerned that this is an example of the council being pressurised to sell assets because of the financial crisis in funding Capital of Culture.
“We would have not hesitation in calling in the District Auditor if there’s any hint of property being sold off at less than its real value, and we will be watching the Lib Dems like a hawk on this issue.”
