The Sheffield Liberal Democrats have welcomed the news the progress being made on the New Retail Quarter project, but have raised concerns over the way decisions on investment are being made.
A cabinet report, set to be approved by the Labour cabinet on Wednesday, requests that the Council triple the amount of investment from the current £61 million to £187million.
The concerns come as the report will not be able to be ‘called-in’ for further scrutiny like other important Council decisions.
Councillor Martin Smith, shadow cabinet spokesperson for business and economy said:
“We support the New Retail Quarter project and we welcome the recent announcement from HSBC about retaining a major presence in Sheffield to keep quality jobs in Sheffield.
However, this project is very unusual as the Council wants to act as a speculative investor and property developer to build shops and office space which is not currently let.
Although we welcome any progress on the retail quarter project, we believe the Labour Council should be more open with people about the risks they are taking with your money.”
The planned New Retail Quarter occupies the site of the ill-fated ‘Sevenstone’ retail project, which fell through amidst the late 2000s economic crisis.
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