Councillors postpone decision on controversial hotel plan

Cabinet members were asked to approve in principle the idea of converting and extending the western part of the office block to create a 65-bed hotel.

The idea was mooted to address a perceived shortage of hotel beds in the town and to attract more visitors and tourists to stay over and stimulate both the daytime and night time economies.

But there has been widespread opposition to the proposals on social media since we reported on it last week and this evening the cabinet voted to explore alternative options alongside the hotel scheme before reconsidering the matter in June.

Other options which had been considered and previously discounted by officials included using part of the underused offices as a shared space with other public sector organisations on a commercial rent basis, converting it into small office suites or converting into residential apartments.

Cabinet members decided they wanted to know more about these options before deciding whether to proceed with the multi-million-pound hotel option.

The council is embarking on an Asset Development Programme to maximise the value of the authority’s assets since its annual budget had reduced from £6.7million to £5million since 2010, creating huge financial pressures on its services.

Only 90 of the current 220 desks are needed at the offices now since many staff work from home and the county council has withdrawn its employees who used to work there.

Leader Joe Orson told this evening’s meeting: “The hotel represents an exciting and innovative option which should be explored further.

“This is however an important decision and one we must get right.

“I am going to propose that we build on the options appraisal already undertaken before proceeding to the next stage.

“We need to bring back the more detailed analysis on the alternate options, including a full economic assessment, so we can be assured the direction we ultimately take does give us the best chance of delivering what we need.

“I request that a further report is brought back to cabinet in June which we can then consider before progressing any further on the hotel.

“It’s worth reminding everyone that any final decision will be reserved for full council and that if we want to remain financially sustainable whilst also supporting our town we will have to keep pursuing innovative options which cut costs, protect local services and grow the economy.”

Councillor Orson outlined the importance of making the authority’s HQ a more cost-effective resource, commenting: “It costs us over £500,000 to run Parkside every year which is a big chunk of our annual £5million budget.

"And every £1 we spend on the building is a £1 less spent on local services.

"It is simply not an option to do nothing.”

Councillor Rob Bindloss, portfolio holder for growth and prosperity, told the meeting: “We are at the verge of some very exciting possibilities for the future of Melton and we need to make sure we make the right choices with this.

"It’s equally clear that we need to address the issues which manifest themselves from the under-occupancy of Parkside.”