In response to articles published on the Stray Ferret website about the supposed cost of civic centre in #Harrogate, the articles are not accurate. The figures are based on a wide range of assumptions backed up by unnamed experts.
The land at civic centre did not cost the council £4.5million. We already owned it, so the cost was £0. Including the assumed value of land when working out the cost of a building is not a methodology we ever used.
It is true that one of the sites we considered was at Hornbeam Park. A full appraisal of this option was put to cabinet and council in October 2014 and rejected as not viable. You can read more at: democracy.harrogate.gov.uk/Data/Cabinet/2…
At the moment, we cannot reveal the final cost of the building as we have not agreed a final bill with the developer. It is now in receivership. We are waiting for an update from the official receiver. As soon as the final cost is known to us, it will be made public.
Civic centre represents excellent value for the council tax payer of the district. It saves us around £1million a year compared to running and maintaining the previous network of offices. This is money that was sorely needed to keep our public services running in recent months.
