Harold Place development update

Plans for the development of a restaurant at Harold Place are progressing.

At last night's Cabinet meeting, councillors agreed a recommendation to ask Full Council to approve an increased budget for the project.

The development of the site was initially approved in February 2020 by Full Council. Since then, in line with other building projects across the country, costs have increased due to supply chain issues and COVID-19. This means that the initial estimated budget needs to be increased for the project to be completed. Plans for a high-quality building have been discussed and have gone through pre-planning advice. A planning application has been submitted and is currently being validated.

Cllr Paul Barnett, lead councillor for regeneration, said: "I am delighted that we are close to securing this important new regeneration project for our town centre. We will continue to look for grant funding opportunities to support the project to reduce the cost to the council. As a significant project in a key part of the town it is vital that the building is of the highest quality. We do not believe that lowering the quality of the build is the correct thing to do. The development will also provide job opportunities both during the build and in the running of the restaurant when the building work is complete."

The project will now be discussed by Full Council at a meeting on Wednesday 13 October at 6pm. It will be available to watch online.