Labour group U-turns over glass centre closure
BBCA city's Labour Party group has called for plans to close the National Glass Centre (NGC) to be immediately halted amid doubts over the true level of the cost of repairs to the building.
The University of Sunderland plans to close the centre in July after it claimed building repairs would require between £14m and £45m, which it cannot afford.
Sunderland Labour Group previously said the closure was beyond its control, but chair Phil Tye has now said the costs of repairing the building would be "nowhere near the figures that have been suggested".
The university said no-one had come forward with a "feasible plan" to pay for the repairs and it would proceed with its plan to shut the NGC.
Tye said the initial report into the condition of the NGC had become a "bit of a standing joke".
"You would think that building was about to slip into the river and disappear, the way that report's been written," he said.
"When you strip it back to what actually is required to fetch this building up to scratch, it's nowhere near the figures that have been suggested."
Tye admitted Labour's earlier decision had been wrong, but was based on information in the report.
"That's why we're saying to the university you must go back and review this decision," he said.
The group has now asked the university to work with Labour-run Sunderland City Council to review the decision-making process and how the council was "potentially led to believe that this was the only option due to the condition of the building".
It has also called on the university to explore alternative options for the site and to lobby the North East Combined Authority and the government for funding.
The group changed its position based on evidence provided by the Save the National Glass Centre campaign group.
The organisation's chair, Carolyn Basing, said Labour's new stance could be "the road to recovery" for the centre.
"We do believe now that we've proved the case that the NGC is fixable," she said.
"There are challenges, but this is going to be absolutely amazing for Sunderland, for the North East and for the whole country."
Sunderland Conservative leader Antony Mullen said Labour's decision had come "too late" and it should have backed his party's motion to save the centre last year.
"If the university wants to be a good neighbour to the city, it should think about what residents are saying through their elected representatives about saving the glass centre," he said.
The University of Sunderland said it had not been presented with a plan to pay for the repairs - still quoted as between £14m and £45m - nor the £800,000 annual subsidy it provided to cover the centre's running costs.
"Given that nearly 90% of its income comes from student tuition fees, the university must spend the money on its core purposes of teaching, research, and knowledge exchange," it said.
"It cannot afford the ongoing liability of maintaining and operating a building that does not have a sustainable future."
