GETTING an “agreement over the line” for funding to restore the former Odeon in Bradford is vitally important for the future of the district, the Council’s leader stated again to colleagues tonight.

Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe used the meeting of the Full Council on Tuesday, December 12, to provide an update on the progress of the £20 million project, which received a major boost last week when the authority agreed to back the developer, Bradford Live, with a £12m loan.

The agreement is set to provide the biggest chunk of funding required to transform the currently derelict cinema into a 4,000-seat live music venue, predicted to bring around 270,000 visitors a year to the city centre.

In September, plans were announced to re-open the Odeon by autumn 2020, with NEC Group International signing a 30-year lease as the operator.

Cllr Hinchcliffe said: “The Council are now supporting Bradford Live to access the funding they need to progress the project as quickly as possible. The way the Council is proposing to do this is through a mixture of prudential borrowing and grant funding from external bodies.

“The Council is also seeking to borrow £12m from the public loans board on the understanding that it will all be paid back by the revenue received from the NEC when they take occupancy of the Odeon. This is not £12m that the Council has in its own accounts for services. It is money we will borrow on behalf of the Bradford Live group against the agreement that it will all be paid back through rent and part-rates received.”

Asked by Councillor Jeanette Sunderland, the leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on the Council, whether the £12m would be paid back in rent and rates, or rent alone, Cllr Hinchcliffe confirmed it would be a mixture of the two.

She told the meeting: “We have to enable the facility to get off the ground. It will not work without public intervention.”

On the loan, she added: “This is money we will borrow because we have that asset. The Odeon is symbolic for Bradford and known far and wide.

“We should welcome NEC with open arms.

“It is very important we get an agreement over the line. Everyone in Bradford is anticipating that we do that.”

Cllr Hinchcliffe’s update confirmed that other funding options to support the project were also being pursued, with the Odeon bid already chosen by the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Board as its preferred project to receive a share of up to £4m from the Government’s Northern Cultural Regeneration Fund, with a decision set to be made in March.