A CHRISTCHURCH councillor has questioned a £200,000 payment made by the council towards Saxon Square's refurbishment.

Cllr Colin Bungey raised the issue of the payment to Saxon Square leaseholders RREEF at a recent council meeting.

He asked the portfolio holder for the economy, Cllr Claire Bath, to confirm the amount given to the company.

"Will the portfolio holder confirm, that of the £200,000 allocated for unspecified town centre improvements, of which £55,000 has been spent on consultants, a further large contribution has been given to Deutsche Bank for Saxon Square," he asked.

Leaseholders RREEF are a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank.

Cllr Bath, clarifying the two different amounts, said: "£200,000 has been agreed by this council to be paid as a contribution to the refurbishment of Saxon Square in conjunction with negotiations with RREEF, the leaseholders.

"This refurbishment and renegotiation of the lease culminated not only with significant improvements to Saxon Square but also bringing Travelodge to the Square, bringing back into use this long-standing vacant unit to the economic benefit of our town.

"We had a duty to maintain the open spaces of Saxon Square under the lease."

She added: "The other amount mentioned of £55,000, is, I believe, referring to the ongoing Town Centre Strategy consultants work.

"This is funded via the council’s economic growth fund which was approved by the resources committee, of which you (Cllr Bungey) are a member, in June 2013.

"At that meeting the resources committee approved £210,000 unallocated reserves be available to support economic growth within our borough.

"It is from this budget that our work to invest in our town centres' future, by developing a town centre strategy, has been funded.

"Currently £35,640 has been invested. I have no knowledge of any 'unspecified town centre improvements' other than those mentioned above."

She said terms for the Saxon Square lease had been approved in an exempt report to the February resources committee.

RREEF have contributed £4million, she added.

After the meeting, Cllr Bungey said: "My main concerns are, why did we give that money to the bank, and should we be doing this?

"It is council tax-payers money. We are putting council tax up because we have to, but with that £55,000 to the town centre consultants and £200,000 to Deutsche Bank, we could have reduced that."

He added: "Why do we have to be responsible for the maintenance of Saxon Square? It just doesn't add up."