£1.8m loan agreed to save Dudley Hippodrome site project

Plans for a new college on the site of the former Hippodrome in Dudley are being held up by wrangling over the purchase of land.

At a specially convened meeting on March 11, council cabinet members voted to approve taking a loan for £1.87m, at a cost of £140,000 per year over 25 years.

The loan would be taken if other funding is not found to cover costs after delays to the £25m project put it at risk of running out of time.

The plan, for a health and life sciences education centre on Castle Hill, is being funded with £25m from the government and £3.7m has already been spent.

A report to the cabinet from the council’s Directorate of Regeneration and Enterprise said: “Being able to confirm a viable and deliverable scheme for the project to progress is vital at this stage. 

“This has resulted in the need for a special cabinet, and it has not been possible to wait for advice on repayment to inform this report.”

Dudley Council's cabinet debating the matter. Pic - Martyn Smith/LDRS

The cabinet heard if delays in completing the final purchase of land continue for too long the scheme would be at risk and the government would want its money back.

Construction of the new centre, which is a partnership between Dudley College and the University of Worcester, was originally planned to start in February 2024 and take around 18 months.

The council is still in negotiations to buy all of the land for the project but to ensure it ends up belonging to the council, the authority has also begun a compulsory purchase order (CPO) process.

The CPO has attracted four qualifying objections, including two from landowners, and 22 which are not relevant because they relate to the demolition of the Hippodrome.

The council now has to hold a public inquiry which will start on May 14 and take four days to deal with the objections.

Council officers expect to complete the purchase of the outstanding land in December 2024 and start construction a month later.

The deadline to spend the government cash is March 2026 although councillors were told there are mechanisms where the authority could negotiate terms for an extension.

The project could also be torpedoed if the CPO is not approved following the public enquiry and councillors were told the authority had “taken extensive steps to prepare and is being advised by experts, including leading counsel, to ensure all legal processes are followed.”

Dudley’s deputy leader, Cllr Paul Bradley, chaired the cabinet meeting in the absence of council leader, Cllr Patrick Harley, who is on holiday.

Cllr Bradley said: “If we don’t go through with this there is potential we will be losing the £25m, the government will claw back £3.7m and we will have a loss of reputation.

“This is the best option.”

The cabinet was also told a delay would result in pressures from inflation which could add four to five percent to the cost of the project.

In 2023, rising costs forced a reduction in the planned size of the new building from four to three storeys and the omission of a community facility.