Agenda and minutes

Members are asked to declare any interests in the items under consideration and in doing so state:

(1) the type of interest concerned; and

(2) the nature of the interest concerned

If any member requires advice on declarations of interests, they are advised to contact the Head of Democratic Governance in advance of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest on this occasion.

To consider the Call-in of Executive Decision EX59/ 2016 ‘Central Business District - Development of a four star hotel and interconnection of Transportation Infrastructure’.

Special Circumstances: The Council’s call-in procedure states that requests for call-in should be considered within five working days of having received the request.

The Committee considered the Call-In of Executive decision EX59/ 2016 ‘Central Business District - Development of a four star hotel and interconnection of Transportation Infrastructure’ that had been called-in by Councillor T Williams on 16 December 2016, as per the agreed procedure.

The Chairman advised the Committee that the following procedure would be followed:

·    Councillor T Williams would be invited to speak first.

·    Councillor Blackburn, as decision maker, would be invited to respond.

·    The Committee would then ask questions of the decision maker and then debate the issue and vote.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Councillor T Williams outlined his reasons for the Call-In. He advised that his reasons were not politically motivated, but that he considered them to be in the interest of the town. He referred to the Council’s proposals in 2014 to develop a hotel on the existing car park at East Topping Street, which had subsequently been terminated.

Councillor T Williams stated that he did not believe the hotel could achieve the required weekly occupancy throughout the year to make the hotel sustainable. In addition, there were a number of factors that could influence the success of a new hotel and which he believed therefore increased the risk of the Council’s investment:

·    The closure of the airport

·    Changes in visitor trends

·    Competition from other new hotels being built in Blackpool

·    Location and the star rating

·    Insufficient demand due to changing trends – wedding/ corporate events

·    A potential Food poisoning outbreak

·    Quality of staff

Councillor T Williams reported that he was supportive of the concept of borrowing to invest in the town, but the venture would not provide a quick profit and he instead suggested borrowing additional funds (£17m) to build new houses/ apartments, which would provide a steady income stream.

He informed the Committee that historically any jobs created through similar projects were not filled by local residents or companies and the hospitality industry usually attracted zero hour contracts with minimum or Living Wage rates of pay. He suggested the proposed increase to the living wage to a minimum of £9 an hour by 2020 would further reduce the feasibility of the venture.  In addition, he considered that the majority of hotel brands required rooms to be refurbished every three years, with a typical cost of £7,500 per room.

In conclusion, Councillor T Williams believed there were better investments that could be made to improve the aesthetics of the town and achieve investment and boost development. He reiterated that he favoured the building of houses and that the residents of Blackpool were of the same opinion.  He noted that the venture was based on a 50 year model, but suggested the building would not be standing in 50 years.

The Chairman invited the Leader of the Council, Councillor Blackburn to respond to the Call-In request. 

Councillor Blackburn responded by reminding the Committee that the Council was building houses at Queens Park and Foxhall and in doing so improving the local economy. He advised that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.