Bedfordshire for Nirah!

Occasional newsletter

A publication called "Practical Fishkeeping" has the following article about the Nirah debacle.

" The company planning to build the world's largest freshwater aquarium and research facility may have to abandon the project.

According to a report from the BBC, NIRAH, the National Institute for Research into Aquatic Habitats, needs more than £300,000 to continue with the project, otherwise it may have to call in the receivers.

The domed complex is due to be built in a disused brick pit in Stewartby, Bedfordshire, and is four times the size of Cornwall's Eden Project.

If built, it will house the world's largest freshwater aquarium and provide a unique opportunity for researchers to work on a range of species.

The NIRAH project is due to bring increased revenue from the tourism industry to Bedfordshire and the UK and could provide up to 2500 jobs.

The BBC reports that NIRAH directors met yesterday to discuss project finances and are hoping that Bedfordshire County Council will back the project by providing the extra funds they need to prevent them going into receivership.

Bedfordshire Sunday claims that Bedfordshire County Council is being obstructive and says that NIRAH may move to the USA if it runs out of cash.

It says that NIRAH has contacted the council and informed them that it is planning to either go into receivership or relocate outside Bedfordshire if the council doesn't cooperate.

Bedfordshire Sunday reported Patrick Hall, MP for Bedford and Kempston, as saying: "An over-cautious attitude is potentially killing a brilliant scheme. The council, instead of showing leadership, is going back on its word and showing it cannot be trusted."

Peter May, chairman of Nirah, said told the paper: "We have tried our utmost to bring Nirah to Bedfordshire and have been met with fantastic support from the public. Nearly 1,000 people have been through the exhibitions and of those 95 per cent have been in favour of the idea. But despite the help of the Mayor of Bedford Frank Branston and MPs Patrick Hall and Alistair Burt we have come to the end of the road."

If the project fails, it is likely to relocate to Bedford, Massachusetts."

The MP for mid Bedfordshire, however, is reported as having said that not a penny more should be given to Nirah. She is quoted in Bedfordshire on Sunday as having said that the general public is not aware that the Nirah concept if actually three large hotels, a water park, a cinema, a bowling alley and that the aquarium is just a small part of a very large development project. She said

"I did support Nirah originally but it has since moved the goalposts.

So far the taxpayer has given £3 million to fund the Nirah concept, half of which has come from Bedfordshire County Council and yet it still wants more money to develop what is a commercial, profit-making project.

If Nirah is so committed to locate into Bedfordshire it is about time it put its own or private investors' money into the project as other commercial enterprises would do.

After all, there are plenty of merchant banks and big city investors looking for embryonic projects such as this in order to maximize future project.

Any credible commercial project would not be suffering from a lack of potential investors i the way Nirah appears to be.

The nearby CenterParcs has spent £3 million of private investors' money to reach the point of planning permission"

Peter May, chairman of Nirah, said

"We are not asking for more money than was originally agreed - which was £3 million plus £1 million."

Back to the mid-Beds MP. According to the BoS Nadine Dorries commented

"It is right that the public sector acts with caution when spending taxpayers' money."

Such a statement would have more credibility had not the Bedfordshire County Council been somewhat profligate with the tax payers' money. Some may remember that the new chief executive is reported to have started her appointment by spending a thousand pounds of our money giving each County Councillor a kite to fly - a stupid act if there was ever one. (See here). In addition to that the County, against much pleading and advice, had secured the services of Hyder Business, and when they did not deliver, had to pay some of our money to cancel the contract. (It was quite a task eliciting from the Council how much Hyder would profit at out expense - see here, and eventually some figure was admitted - eight million pounds, if my memory serves me correctly. And finally, reported in Bedfordshire on Sunday - today's edition no less - it appears that the existing logo of the County Council is to be updated, at a cost of £120,000. Interestingly enough, I was unsuccessful in finding the Bedfordshire logo on their own website! This picture shows the new one!

There has always been a war between County and the Borough, and increasingly calls are being made for the County authority to be disbanded, with Bedford being given a higher status. By definition, it would seem, anything advocated by the Borough will be rejected by the County, and vice-versa. Methinks that may be one of the factors in this tussle.

The directors of the Nirah project have postponed their plan to call in the receivers, pending the meeting to be held at the Corn Exchange tomorrow evening. They will defer any decision until 5th July. Campaigners for Nirah have been busy over the past few days encouraging people to attend this meeting. The campaigners stress that the required £300,000 is to be a loan, not a gift. After so much money has been spent, it seems churlish to refrain from honouring the agreement, because this would mean that we would see, for our three millions - nothing.