Council refuses to ‘stall momentum’

WILL PRESS ON WITH PLAN FOR DEBENHAMS BUILDING

- By GARETH LIGHTFOOT

A CALL to hold off on final decisions about the former Debenhams building in Stockton town centre has been rejected because it would “stall momentum”.

The High Street building could be part of a forthcoming Pride in Place “trailblazer neighbourhood’ to receive up to £20m over the next decade, and a move to improve healthcare on people's doorsteps through new neighbourhood teams, councillors were told. Stockton Council is spending £6.5m moving proposals forward for the town centre, including the former Debenhams.

Caution was urged, however, by Councillor Ted Strike who suggested the council should not make final decisions on major investment into the building yet. He proposed the council waits until it considers the findings of a committee which has just started a probe into the Labour-led authority's capital programme, expected to make its final report next April.

In a motion to a full council meeting on Wednesday night, he also proposed updates be given to the full council about the project's ongoing options, costs and risks.

He called for more debate and scrutiny, councillors’ views be taken into account, and a separate review of the Debenhams project’s finance and governance, saying councillors and residents should have “clear, timely information about the financial implications and associated risk as these proposals progress”.