Committee signs off £3m shopping centre loan

A council committee has signed off on a decision to loan £3m to a shopping centre.

West Northamptonshire Council's cabinet first voted to approve the money in December, to help relocate an H&M store to the Grosvenor Centre, and bring in flexible workspaces and convert several units into so-called micro shops.

A committee also approved the decision on Monday night, after opposition councillors demanded the decision needed extra scrutiny.

Simon Bowers, assistant director for assets and environment at the council, said the project was part of a wider scheme for the town.

"This is a once in a generation opportunity to make a real difference to regenerate the entire area and make a real difference to the centre of Northampton," he said.

Four Labour councillors, four Liberal Democrats and one independent had asked the the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee to discuss the decision from last month.

A loan of £2m would help develop a new H&M - relocating it from Abington Street - and £1m would create flexible workspaces.

In return, the authority would seize control over the future use of nearby Belgrave House, which was subject to a legal document only allowing the property to be used for residential homes for keyworkers.

The shopping centre is owned by private company Evolve Estates, which is headquartered in Soho, London.

During the two-hour meeting, objections were raised by opposition councillors about the decision, including questioning why the council needed to lend money to global corporations such as H&M.

Labour group leader Wendy Randall said: "For me, it's very important because we are dealing with residents' money that we have got to make sure - and question and scrutinise - that every decision that is being made is being made for the public's interest."

The committee was told several times that Belgrave House was locked up in a highly restrictive lease and was a risk to the Greyfriars neighbourhood scheme, but that this agreement would allow the project to move forward.

Dan Lister, the Conservative cabinet member for local economy, culture and leisure, said: "We are at risk [of] making ourselves look incapable of making sound decisions, when we've got a very small investment that's going to be paid back... enabling things to come forward, but most importantly unlocking Belgrave House, because that unlocks the Greyfriars scheme."

Only four out of 11 committee members took part in the vote.

Some members were excluded as they had signed the call-in, others were absent and one joined the meeting remotely so was not allowed to vote.

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