Northamptonshire: Tourism budget approved despite spending controls

The Chester House Estate opened to visitors in 2021

A council has approved an £856,000 budget for its culture and tourism plans a week after it introduced spending controls.

North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) recently introduced a panel to approve any expenditure above £500.

But under the plans, thousands of pounds will be spent on attractions such as the Chester House Estate.

At a meeting, a councillor for the Conservative-controlled authority said "tourism generates economy".

Corby Heritage Centre, the Cornerstone in Kettering and the North Northamptonshire Greenway Project also stand to benefit from enhanced facilities from the proposed spend.

A North Northamptonshire Council meeting at the Corby Cube heard the £856,000 tourism budget was "not a great deal of money" in context

At a meeting on 18 January, Jim Hakewill, an independent councillor, asked NNC's executive panel if it was "acceptable" to invest the funds into culture and tourism when there were "so many other demands in our resources".

Helen Howell, the council's executive member for sport, leisure, culture and tourism, said that the £850k figure was "not a great deal of money" in the context of the council's £371m budget for 2024-25.

She said: "It is quite disturbing that one should think we should not invest and spend any money in this sort of service - it provides an awful lot of things for an awful lot of people.

"[Tourism] generates income for this council, it generates income for everybody out there and creates jobs."

The meeting also heard that the NNC's projected overspend for this financial year has risen, with the council expecting an additional spend of £8.5m.

Lloyd Bunday, the council's executive member for finance and transformation, said that the rising costs were due to events "beyond the realms of control" of the council and the volatility of demand-led services.

He also warned of a "real risk" of a further £3m of savings not being delivered by Northamptonshire Children's Trust.

The Cornerstone building encompasses Kettering library and the Alfred East Art Gallery