BOURNEMOUTH Council is set to take a £1million calculated gamble to kickstart £10m of investment in the town centre.

The council is proposing to dip into its cash reserves and invest £1m in plans to build a mix of 64 flats and commercial units on the Leyton Mount car park.

The scheme, which is part of the Town Centre Master Vision, has planning permission and an offer of a £4m loan from the Coalition Government’s Get Britain Building fund.

But this money is dependent on the Bournemouth Development Com-pany – a partnership between Bourn-emouth council and Morgan Sindall – matching this with another £4m of their own money.

This marks a departure from the original terms of the Town Centre Master Vision, which envisaged that the council would invest only land assets into the partnership. There is also a risk that Bournemouth council and Morgan Sindall will not get all their money back if the flats and shop units don’t sell well but this is considered a risk worth taking to promote inward investment into the town centre.

A report to next Wednesday’s cabinet meeting states: “Whilst this creates a risk to the Council, in that there is a chance that the Council will not recover all of its £2million investment (£1m plus £1m land value), this risk should be considered against the wider Council objective of promoting inwards investment in the town and the opportunity to share in the profits of the development, if the prudent assumptions become a reality.”

Bill Cotton, Executive Director at Bournemouth council and a board member of the Bournemouth Development Company, said: “Decisions over the funding of each project by the Bournemouth Development Company will be reached on a case by case basis to ensure best value for the council, its residents and its partner.

“In the case of Leyton Mount we’re delighted that the Homes and Communities Agency looks set to offer a £4 million interest-free loan, which is dependent on match funding from the Bournemouth Development Company.

“That means the company needed to raise additional funds and, after careful consideration, the council and Morgan Sindall Investments Ltd each plan to increase their own capital investments rather than borrow from third party lenders who, in these financial climes, demand high levels of interest.

“This will increase the final profits from the project, enhancing our ability to deliver improvements in other parts of the town. The investment, whether land or capital, still represents a 50 per cent share for each partner within The Bournemouth Development Company.”