Wigan Council chief tells court hotel deal was 'best way' to fund revamp of Haigh Hall

Paul McEvitt, deputy chief executive of Wigan Council, was giving evidence in a High Court hearing about the future of the historic building.

He conceded the hall had not been making a profit, but said it was included in the budget and improving it was not the “top priority”.

It would have cost around £3m to restore the building and while the council did have the money, choices were made to spend it elsewhere, he said.

But a review of leisure services led to it being leased to hotel operator Contessa, which wanted to turn it into a four-star boutique hotel.

Mr McEvitt said: “It’s the best way of financing the deal. What you have got is a private investor who is willing to invest in the hall for you and you can spend that money elsewhere.”

The council received £400,000 in the deal, which was used to revamp the play area at Haigh Woodland Park.

But Mr McEvitt said the council would have improved the hall itself if a deal was not made with Contessa.

“We would have used money from other schemes to fund what we wanted to do to Haigh Hall,” he said.

Mr McEvitt was questioned by Andrew Latimer, who is representing hotel operator Skullindale Global Ltd and defendants Craig Baker and Amir Almadani.

He agreed with Mr Latimer’s suggestion that the council did not have staff with the skills to refurbish the building and said it would have hired contractors.

Plans for the hall were revealed in November 2014, with Mr McEvitt saying there were nerves about how people would react.

He said: “There were a number of reasons why we thought the public would be nervous. It is around how the public view Haigh Hall. It’s an important part of the borough’s heritage.”

But he was pleased with the response and lease negotiations began, with Contessa taking on the hall.

Mr McEvitt said director Craig Baker had an “unconventional way of working”.

The court was previously told that concerns arose about work done on the building and whether conditions attached to planning consent were being fulfilled. The council used a break notice in the lease to end the deal in 2019.

Mr Latimer referred to a report prepared on July 20, 2018 for a meeting of the council’s cabinet on August 2, 2018, which asked for Mr McEvitt to be given power to waive a break clause in the lease.

A risk highlighted if this was not done was that the council would have to spend a “seven-figure sum” to take back the hall.

Mr Latimer suggested this would be seen as a “financial disaster” for the council, something Mr McEvitt denied.

“The council isn’t a commercial operation so the council doesn’t always make decisions that if you were in the private sector would make money. It’s about delivering what residents want and Haigh Hall Country Park is really popular, so we would spending money developing that site,” he said.

Mr McEvitt was questioned about visiting the hall on July 27, 2018.

He said the work looked “nice”, but he could not comment on the quality as he was not an expert.

He denied telling Mr Baker that the building was “absolutely fabulous” and he had “nothing to worry about.”

Proceeding.

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