5 January, 2005

Councillors are being asked to confirm their commitment to a new public venue at the heart of the Cattle Market redevelopment scheme following an agreement from developer Centros Miller to contribute towards the cost of building the venue.

A report to the Cattle Market Redevelopment Working Party on 10 January states: "Public buildings make a statement about civic identity and pride. As the Corn Exchange was a statement of civic pride for the 19th century, the new venue is set to be a similar statement of identity for the 21st century."

Working party members will be considering a report setting out the revenue and capital costs of the new venue, along with a business plan which has been revised following changes to the design, and new information, such as lessons learned from setting up the leisure centres trust.

The report says that costings by quantity surveyors, taking into account St Edmundsbury's design brief, showed construction costs to be in excess of the council's budget of £10million for the venue.  Centros Miller, who support the idea of a mixed use rather than a wholly retail scheme, have put forward a funding proposal to make up the difference. The changes have been taken into account in the revised business plan.

Working party chairman Cllr Andrew Varley said:

"There are two sides to our approach to the venue - one is to ensure people of the borough get good value for money and the other is that we provide a venue which is fit for purpose and caters for a wide range of activities. We will continue to ensure both these aims are achieved."

The report sets out an annual running cost for the venue, above the projected cost of managing the Corn Exchange and Athenaeum, of £154,000 (less than originally thought). Helping to offset this cost is a potential £100,000 income from a commercial use of the first floor of the Corn Exchange and a minimum of commercial rental income of £194,000 that St Edmundsbury is set to receive from the Cattle Market scheme.

Working party members will hear that the capital cost of £10million - set aside in the budget by the council in 2002 - will mean a loss of £450,000 in interest. The combination of capital and revenue costs, offset by the additional income, is the equivalent of £11 cost for a Band D Council Tax payer.

As part of its Asset Management Plan, reviews of the council's properties and land are being carried out and it is expected that in the period between 2003 and 2009 £15.5 million will be raised from sales which, if invested, will earn about £697,000 a year interest, equivalent to a saving of £19.45 for a Band D council tax payer. This offsets to a large degree the capital investment in the venue and other council initiatives.

The detailed business plan compares three different management options and looks at additional events, such as conferences and meetings, which could be staged at a modern, well-equipped venue. The idea for the venue followed public consultation undertaken at an early stage of the Cattle Market redevelopment scheme. Strong support was given at that time by young people, who said they wanted a better venue for music and similar events, and that support has been confirmed by consultation carried out at the BurySOUND band competition.

The report says the venue is one of the most important council projects and would be:

a venue that satisfies the public demand expressed during consultation;

a modern, well-equipped, flexible, multi-purpose auditorium different from anything existing in the town now;

totally accessible at all levels for people with disabilities;

a community building to bring life into the Cattle Market development, especially outside normal shopping hours;

a venue to stage events and activities that will improve the quality of life of local people and help develop the town’s sub-regional role.

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