Regis Centre agreement criticised by Lib Dems as 'deal from hell'

Francis Oppler at the old Fire Station building pictured in 2018

Following Tuesday night’s meeting (see opposite page), Francis Oppler said his party had abstained from voting on the deal. “The [Conservatives’] handling of this has been dreadful,” he said. “Doing this land swap is a terrible financial deal and will involve the knocking down of the old fire station – another building of heritage will be lost.”

A hotel could ‘dominate’ the seafront, ‘stopping any meaningful regeneration’. But he added the council risked losing the £12 million funding if the deal was voted down.

Opposition members appealed for the discussion to be held in public. But the council’s monitoring officer concluded the public interest in keeping the details confidential outweighed the public interest in releasing them, as commercially sensitive information was involved.

Main opposition leader James Walsh (LDem, Beach) said: “We argued the principles of the deal could and should have been heard in public, with only the terms of the commercial agreement with Whitbread being discussed in private.

“The proposal for a hotel and seafront restaurant is welcomed and Liberal Democrats insisted the new building would have to be sympathetic to its proximity to the Town Hall and the seafront. We were also concerned about the [length of the lease], and questioned the sum being paid to the council for this.”

He said the extra £3 million price tag for the project is his ‘biggest concern’: “This £3 million should be coming from government. It is a con trick on the local council taxpayers.

“The final concern is the lack of any funding or plan for the Brewers Fayre front of the building, which will still leave a somewhat shabby and run-down pub on the seafront.”

Fellow Lib Dem Matt Stanley was very concerned about selling off a ‘prime piece of seafront land for a negligible amount’. He raised the potential impact of a hotel on the Grade II listed town hall. He added: “We cannot hand sites like this over to developers at a bargain price in one breath and then be demanding hard working people pay more tax in the next.”