Controversial Black Country arts centre The Public could be staring at a fresh crisis after it emerged it is facing a shortfall of more than £1 million in funding.
And that figure could increase even further in order to pay for fitting out unused office space. Sandwell Council chiefs will meet in private on Wednesday to discuss the West Bromwich venue’s finances and look at ways to make the venture more attractive to commercial tenants. But critics of the troubled gallery are calling for details of the cash shortfall to be revealed.
“People deserve to know what’s happening,” said Councillor Tony Ward, leader of the opposition Tory group on the council. “I find this news very concerning, but not at all surprising.”
The crisis-hit pink gallery finally opened last week, two years behind schedule and at an increased cost of £54m.
It had been claimed the shortfall amounted to £5m, but Councillor Steve Eling, cabinet member for strategic resources, resolutely denied that today.
“There is a shortfall,” he said. “There have been difficulties completing the project but it is absolutely not £5m.”
Councillor Eling said the shortfall did exceed £1m but would not confirm by exactly how much. He added: “We are also facing a decision on Wednesday about what to do with the office space.
“Usually tenants taking on offices like this would pay to fit them out themselves, but we have to decide whether if we paid it might make them more attractive to potential tenants.
“That is why the meeting is being held in private, because this is commercially sensitive.” It is not known how much office space in the building is still vacant.
Fiona McEvoy, campaign agent for the TaxPayers Alliance, said: “It’s a travesty that this project is to guzzle yet more money from the public purse.”
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5 Comments
Sandwell Council should consider renaming this monstrosity “The Private”, seeing as most of the decisions regarding this drain on local taxpayers money have been made behind closed doors. Democracy and transparency. these are two words that don’t exist in the Sandwell Council dictionary. Maybe if Bob Badham and his fellow councillors responsible for making the decisions had been more open about what was actually happening, rather than keeping the “public” out of the decision making process, it’s just possible that there might have been less hostility towards the project. Or maybe West Bromwich could have ended up with something that was useful to everbody instead of an plaything for a minority who will never use it.
How many more stories will there be about “The Public”’s funding problems. I’m afraid that it is a bottomless pit for Badham & Co to throw everybody’s money into.
I pass this building every day and can never see people going to this building. I wonder how many have been since the opening weekend? Its like a ghost town.
From the very start this building was struggling with funding, and it will finish owing a lot more than it is worth as people am not interested.
i would like to know just how much this is costing me in council tax never mind picking my pocket again those who wanted this building should be surcharged to pay for it also i would like to know how many of the staff come from west bromwich not many i bet
Top of the hill, sorry cant agree, it should not be renamed “The Private” it should be renamed “The Titanic” it has been a total disaster from its first conception, had it been something that was wanted by the electorate of Sandwell, then I wouldn’t have minded paying towards its costs, it never was wanted, the electorate of Sandwell have never been consulted, the only people that wanted this were the elite few running Sandwell Council.
This headline “Sandwell Council chiefs will meet in private on Wednesday to discuss the West Bromwich venue’s finances and look at ways to make the venture more attractive to commercial tenants” says it all about the dictators running Sandwell Council.
The term “something’s never change” springs to mind, isn’t this exactly the sort of secretive and underhand system that caused this disaster in the first place?
If any more money needs to be spent by this council it should be spent on sending these councillors on an intensive course to teach them what the word Democracy means, somewhere along the line they have got the word Democracy mixed up with the word Dictatorship,
The dictionaries definition of the word Democracy is: In a Democracy all people are free and are allowed equal representation, this councils arrogant way to control us is to remove our right to be represented, and that right is then replaced with their own dictate to ignore the electorate and to do whatever Sandwell’s Councillors want to boost their own ego.
“To look at ways to make the venture more attractive to commercial tenants”!!!!!!!! try raising it to the ground, then turn it into a free car park, that’s the only way that disaster sight is ever going to attract visitors.
Jim of Bearwood
WELL !!!….It didn’t take long did it !
just over a week after opening to the public it has just been on the radio that they is ALREADY a MILLION to FOUR MILLION POUND shortfall in cash !!
This is making my blood boil and there MUST be a POLICE enquiry as to where EVERY SINGLE PENNY spent on this, where it has come from and where it has gone ….THIS IS APPALLING !!!
Councillors need to resign now….WITHOUT A PENSION…And if needed, their houses and possesions sold to pay for all of this….bet they wouldn’t be so keen then ??
If I have said it once, I have said it a thousand times…..The people on the council who decided this waste MUST NOT EVER BE ALLOWED to the right to say where any future money should go towards EVER !!!
This whole debacle stinks and I really do wonder the motives of some of these councillors
Let’s not forget here…..it’s the same council who have sat back and watched this Borough rot in decline and now they will expect the praise when they waste more of our money ‘trying’ to ‘improve’ it
COUNCILLORS IF YOU ARE READING THIS….REMEMBER….YOU ARE HERE TO SERVE US…..AND NOT US TO SERVE YOU…..BASIC !!