Croydon’s Conservative opposition has renewed demands that the council leader, Labour’s Tony Newman, fulfills his public promise to release a confidential report from consultants Mott MacDonald on the multi-million pound refurbishment of the Fairfield Halls and Croydon College.
Tony Newman: when is a promise not a promise?
The Tories are concerned that plans to close the venerable arts complex for two years while rebuilding work takes place could jeopardise the Concert Hall and Ashcroft Theatre’s future prospects, making it impossible for the venue to recover its current £4.8 million per year turnover.
They claim that complete closure of the Fairfield Halls while the work takes place is unnecessary, but is simply the cheaper option – offering savings of around £4.5million on the overall refurbishment costs compared to a phased operation. The Mott MacDonald consultants’ report is believed to confirm this, and offer alternatives which would make a phased redevelopment possible.
But despite offering to release the report during a recent webcast Town Hall meeting, Newman and senior council officials such as CEO Nathan Elvery have denied access to the document to the Tories, and the public.
“Tony Newman gave his word to a council meeting in the Town Hall chamber that he would make the report available,” one senior Croydon Tory told Inside Croydon. “All we are asking of his supposedly open and transparent administration is that he honours his word.”
