Concerns over the funding of the Bernie Grant centre were heightened in the council chamber yesterday evening, when Lib Dem councillor Wayne Hoban accused Haringey Labour of writing a blank cheque for the development, which could cost local taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Councillor Hoban also said that if council funding on this scale is being sought, the centre should be for the whole of Tottenham and not just for one section of the local community.

The Lib Dem councillor for Alexandra Ward urged the council to consider renaming an existing public building instead of opting for the new centre, which is riddled with financial uncertainties.He suggested that the Tottenham Green Leisure centre cold be renamed in Bernie Grant’s memory, as it was a very popular local facility.

Wayne Hoban comments:

“Haringey Council is in danger of getting itself in to a ‘heads you win, tails I lose’ situation over the centre. Even within the present proposals, the projected deficit of £200,000 per year from 2004 is way above what can be sustained, given the council’s other pressing problems. There has got to be a complete rethink on this scheme.”