'Vanity project' - Gosport MP takes a swipe at council over Criterion with concerns over Pride of Place funding
Gosport MP Caroline Dinenage has taken a swipe at the borough council over its Criterion ‘vanity project’, expressing fears that it could ‘siphon’ regeneration money into the controversial scheme.
It comes as Rowner is one of 339 areas earmarked to receive up to £20 million from the government’s Pride in Place initiative to be spent on projects to revive the area, with local councils playing a key role in accounting for how the money is spent.
Communities minister Miatta Fahnbulleh told the Commons today (Wednesday, October 15) that councils would work alongside MPs to set up local community neighbourhood boards which would decide how the money would be spent.
However, the Gosport MP has said that this had stoked fears that money could then be diverted to the controversial Criterion project, with the building bought by the council in 2022 as it wanted to create a new entertainment venue. It operated as a cinema and theatre until 1968, and was then a bingo hall until its closure in 2020.
As previously reported by The News, the first phase of the restoration will transform the building’s annexe into a vibrant arts-led community café and is set to open in March 2026. However critics have been increasingly vocal about the projects costs and benefit to the community.
Speaking in the Commons, Conservative MP for Gosport asked the government for reassurance that the Pride in Place money would be spent on projects which the community supported.
She said: “My constituents in Rowner we delighted to hear that they had been chosen for Pride of Place funding, but they’re now a little bit worried and I’m hoping that the minister can help us. That instead of this money being spent on projects that will meaningfully change lives in Rowner, our local Liberal Democrat council will attempt to siphon some of this money off to bankroll one of their vanity projects, namely the Criterion - which is basically a delipidated former bingo hall.
“While I’m really pleased that this funding comes with some flexibility, what protections is the minister going to put in place to stop this money being frittered away on white elephants by unscrupulous local councils?”
Mrs Fahnbulleh said that while she would not speak to the specifics about the Criterion, it was ‘very, very clear that local communities should be in the driving seat’ with the creation of community boards to decide how money is spent.
She said: “The funding is flowing through the councils because they have accounting officer responsibility, but the decision needs to be made by the neighbourhood board.”
She also said it was important that MPs and local councils worked closely in ‘a joint endeavour’, especially over who the chairman of the board is, ‘and the chair can make sure that the right voices are sitting round the table, and ultimately the funding will go to back an investment and regeneration plan that the board will develop’.
She added: “It will makes it very hard for particular projects that have been long-standing to be the projects that are funded. It has to be part of a plan that is supported by that neighbourhood board and the investment will flow to that.”
Other areas to get the cash locally as part of the same Pride in Place scheme are:
- Paulsgrove East, Portsmouth
- Fratton West, Portsmouth
- Leigh Park, Havant
- Cowplain, Waterlooville
Decisions to give certain areas money over others were based mainly “on two metrics – the metric of multiple deprivation and community need”, the minister added.
A spokesperson from Gosport Borough Council confirmed that funding for the Criterion project will remain separate to other community schemes.
In a statement they said: "We can confirm that no funding has been drawn from any other project to support the Criterion restoration. Any future funding secured for the Criterion will be explicitly for the Criterion and allocated to the Criterion and will not be redirected from other initiatives.
“This ensures the project does not place a burden on existing resources and is managed as a stand-alone initiative."