And another report into St Neots Town Centre

Another report into St Neots Town Centre? According to the Hunts Post, the Town Council and the District Council are applying for part of the Mary Portas £ million. The problem I have with all this is what is wrong has been looked at and examined. What is needed is larger retail units and more car parking.

It has long been recognised that St Neots needs larger retail units as the current size of the units are unattractive to major retailers. The Civic Report points to a few locations which aren't easy to achieve. What is needed is the District Council to decide that it is willing to use compulsory purchase powers to assemble the land for any development. That is a hard.

The easy way is to redevelop The Priory Centre. Not that this will bring in any new larger retail units. The councils have to be seen to do something. Redeveloping The Priory Centre is doing something. But redeveloping The Priory Centre will do nothing for the Town Centre itself. It is just easy as the Council are the owners of this area.

The focus of any report on the future of the Town Centre must be on providing larger retail units on the High Street and/or Market Square. Anything less will mean another lost opportunity.

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Various Reports on St Neots Town Centre.
Civic Report 2004
Perceptions Report 2007
Priory Waterfront 2008
Town Centre Benchmarking 2010

Should Town Council facilities be run at a profit?

There seems to be a notion in St Neots Town Council that services should be run at a profit or break-even. But not all services. Open spaces and Play Areas need lots of money to maintain and money for this is paid out of the Council Tax raised. No charges here then.

The Priory Centre and the ECC are both examples of public services which shouldn't run at a profit. Nor with the likely maintenance costs are they likely too. The cost of these should be paid by the Council Taxpayer. What the Town Council should be looking at is the acceptable cost to the Council Taxpayer and the users of the service. 

Looking at the Priory Centre, this is a prime example of wishing it could break even over 5 years. This is impossible. The budget shows just why. The Priory Centre is budget to lose £112,135. This is before any capital expenditure is added.

To cut this loss the Town Council would have to triple the bar profit or double the hire charges. The only other alternative is to cut the staff. Jacking up prices will only move customers on. 

The Town Council has to come to terms with Public Services cost money. Setting targets which cannot be achieved may look good to the Public but they restrict staff and eventually they leave. 

I actually feel a budgeted loss of £100,000 is roughly right for The Priory Centre. Yes, the Town Council should bear down on costs. Yes, the Town Council should give the Manager the right to manage the facility rather than meddling with the prices. But don't make it impossible.

Are these Corporate Objectives too stringent?

Many public buildings, such as Leisure Centres, Public halls and village halls run with a public subsidy. The whole idea that these will run at a surplus doesn't work. I am therefore surprised the Town Council has made the following promises:

The ECC is supposed to be self sufficient within 12 months. But what does self sufficient actually mean? To me this must mean the ECC must produce a surplus that not only covers all the expenses but also the loan repayments and interest on the building. Not forgetting any money needed for repairs and refurbishment.

Each year the Town Council has a trading account section in the Annual Accounts. To ensure this promise is achieved the Town Council will have to do similar for the ECC.

I feel these targets are unachievable and, whilst laudable, will mean pressure is put onto a service which cannot be met. The 5 year programme to cut the Priory Centre programme could work if the number of staff are cut. But Councillors like to interfere over fees and charges. When the HDC Leisure Centre has a subsidy of £600,000 plus a £2.9 million loan at £145,000 pa in interest plus capital repayments of £58,000 a year.

When the subsidy for the Priory Centre is put into context it is minimal against what is thrown at other public buildings. It is unlikely the Priory Centre will every be profitable. Accept the Priory Centre won't be profitable and stop wasting time and energy in chasing this unobtainable dream.