Councillor queries if Peterborough is 'having its cake and eating it' over multi-million pound sale of former TK Maxx building

A councillor has queried if the Government is allowing Peterborough to ‘have its cake and eat it’ over the multi-million pound sale of the former TK Maxx store.

It comes as uncertainty surrounds the use of any profits from the sale of the building in Bridge Street which was bought three years ago by Peterborough City Council using Government Towns Fund money.

Councillors have agreed the building, which was to have been used for The Vine community and cultural centre, is too expensive to refurbish and should be sold to a developer, who is thought to want to create a multi-storey conference and banqueting centre.

Members of the council’s ruling Cabinet were told the money used from the Towns Fund would have to go back into the Peterborough Towns Fund pot.

But Councillor Rylan Ray queried if the profits from the sale would go into the Towns Fund or would be used for the benefit of the people.

He said: “Just to confirm, because I am at risk of thinking we have some ‘cake’ from Government – money from the Towns Fund – to pay for the building and now we might actually get to eat that cake as well?

He asked: “Is it right that we have received this money from the Towns Fund and now we’re selling the building and while some of the proceeds are to be reinvested for other Towns Fund projects, that money is coming to the council and we will be able to use it to benefit all residents. Is that right? It can’t be right?

He asked: “The profit, will that go to Towns Fund or be used for other things because it didn’t come from Towns Fund?

Nick Carter, the council’s director for growth and regeneration, said that the use of any profits was still being discussed with the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).

He said: “There are ongoing discussions with DLUHC about how we deal with any profit that comes from the building.

"It is an unusual situation for DLUHC to be in but they are supportive.”

"But he said the money used from the Towns Fund would be recycled back into Peterborough’s eight Towns Fund projects.

Councillors approved the start of the process to sell the former Woolworths/TK Maxx and New Look building on the corner of Bridge Street and Bourges Boulevard to a developer.

Council leader Wayne Fitzgerald, the council leader, has previously said that the sale would make a profit for the council and the developer wanted to create a conference and banqueting centre with a rooftop restaurant and bar and a number of apartments.

According to documents at the Land Registry the council bought the property for £3,975,000 by the council on December 15, 2020 from Picton UK Real Estate Trust, based in Guernsey.

It has already been agreed to split The Vine project in two with a community section being housed in a refurbished Central Library and a food and drinks cultural hub being created at the Victorian railway shed at Fletton Quays.