MORE than £11 million is likely to be borrowed by Weymouth and Portland Borough Council to get phase one of the Peninsula development underway.

The council will also put more than £3 million of it reserve funding into the project.

A special meeting of the harbour board is being held on September 13 to discuss the proposals – but after a brief public session the council will close the doors on the Press and public to discuss the commercial details.

The final details may later be revealed – once the full council is asked to make a decision, possibly at its October 11 meeting.

It is still not yet clear who will finally get any income from the scheme, should it go ahead, whether the new unitary Dorset Council, the new Weymouth Town Council, both of which come into being in April 2019, or a harbour trust board.

Papers relating to the business case for the development, which will include at least one hotel and a bar/diner, are also being kept confidential.

Estimates suggest that 150 construction jobs would be involved in the construction phase of the project and 140 full time equivalent posts once the scheme is up and running.

Figures produced by consultants suggest the development would bring in £30m from visitors over 10 years and £11.4m from locals over the same period.

Said council development director Martin Hamilton: “This regeneration scheme will create employment, strengthen the Weymouth town centre offer, improve the local accommodation and leisure offer and enhance the visitor economy. It will also assist in securing the long term viability of Weymouth Harbour…. and funding of the council’s statutory functions as a harbour authority, without needing to fund any shortfall solely from increased harbour dues and charges.”

The first phase, expected to cost £14.4 million, is likely to include a 100-plus bed hotel, pub/diner with accommodation, harbourside improvements and better public access on walkways around the site and harbourside.

Works to the harbour wall, near the rowing ferry steps, due to start early next year, is included in the costs and is put at just short of £2 million. Other costs, including officer time and demolition of the ferry terminal buildings add another £1 million – money which will come from borough council funds.

That leaves £11.4 million to be borrowed from the Public Works Loan Board.

Projections, based on a 40-year timescale, suggest that income, once interest and loan payments are paid, could be £213,000 per year.

There has been criticism of the scheme which, at least in it early stage, showed a 50 per cent cut in the amount of car parking space behind the Pavilion, which some claimed could affect the viability of the theatre. Hoteliers were also unhappy claiming that the town had no need for a national change to rival their businesses.

Councillors at the special meeting are also being asked to delegate a small team of officers to negotiate contracts and pre-let arrangements and to start the planning process.

Other agreement being sought is for permission to demolish the former ferry terminal building – likely to cost around £250,000 with the money coming from the harbour reserve budget.

In a report to the special committee meeting council development director Martin Hamilton says: “The decisions set out in this report provide for a much needed regeneration scheme to enhance Weymouth and give financial stimulus and income to the Statutory Harbour Authority for future harbour related needs.

“The business case that underpins these decisions has been tested to ensure prudent provision to safeguard the successor Dorset Council and that the first phase of the scheme can be delivered.”

Mr Hamilton says the all-weather facilities will help attract shoulder and out of season visitors and reverse the decline of the town’s tourism industry: “Many of the facilities that add value and encourage additional visitor spend are either missing, are of average quality or there is an insufficient number of them to create a critical mass.”

An initial planning application for the development is expected to go before the local planning committee before the end of the year.