£49m may not be enough to redevelop civic centre

THE ambitious £49m redevelopment of Plymouth's crumbling Civic Centre may turn out to be loss making. Minutes of "secret" meetings held to discuss the future of the city centre show that the revamp may not break even.

- WILLIAM TELFORD

A meeting held between Plymouth City Council officers, the Homes England quango, and other Government departments said a case for funding might have to focus on the "social value" of the project as it may not turn a profit.

Homes England has now injected £20m into the revamp, with the council borrowing £17.366m to put towards it and the rest coming from other funders, as it looks to create 144 flats above a college campus on the lowest three floors.

The WMN has now seen full minutes of three meetings of the Plymouth Strategic Investment and Regeneration Board after the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) told the authority it must disclose unredacted versions.

The meetings, held in November 2023, January 2024 and March 2024 reveal discussions on how much cash Homes England is investing in Plymouth, how the city beat other cities to the cash, and where the money will be spent. The WMN is also hoping to see the unredacted minutes of subsequent meetings.

The January and March 2024 meetings included discussions on the Civic Centre revamp. In January last year, the council said there were "challenges" associated with the project, including "a significant funding gap.

It stressed that funding from the Government's Levelling Up Fund Round 3 meant there was "an opportunity to secure a brilliant intervention through a new blue/green skills hub being provided by City College Plymouth. The college now has its own architect overseeing the transformation of the lower floors into a new campus.