Decision

Following the review of the Strategic Outline Case at an extraordinary Capital Growth Board on the 18 March 2025, the budget for the Strand Development project is to be increased by £1.708m to cover the costs to date and the next phase of development.

The additional budget will be underwritten from general capital reserves in the short term with expectations to recover these funds from the completed development.

Reasons for the decision

The project was reviewed and deemed to be strategically advantageous and satisfactorily compliant in terms of the feasibility and levels of risk to enable the project to progress.

Alternative options considered

Approval of this decision enables the projects to progress within a controlled process.

The alternative would be to abort the project which would leave a critical asset vacant in a key area of Torquay and accumulate costs in terms of unsupported business rates.