To deliver the best for residents, it’s important that the Council gets the best value for money. Sadly, under two years of Liberal Democrat and Labour administration into Wokingham Borough, this has rarely been the case.
The previous Conservative administration delivered a transformative and award-winning redevelopment of Wokingham town centre. A new square was created in Peach Place, with spaces for cafes and restaurants. Elms Field – in the face of Liberal Democrat opposition – became a new open space with a playground, with shops, a cinema and new homes replacing Council car parks and office buildings. And Carnival Pool leisure centre was completely rebuilt with a brand-new facility, with space to relocate Wokingham library, next to a new multi-storey car park.
The final part of the redevelopment inherited by the Liberal Democrats when they took power two years ago was a development of flats next to Carnival Pool. This site is intended to deliver 55 new homes.
Once complete, it is expected that the entire regeneration of Wokingham should generate up to £2million a year to start with, and then up to £6million a year once building costs have been paid off. This money can then be redirected into other Council projects and services.
Flats at Carnival Pool have now sat empty and half-finished for almost two years.
In that time, the project has seen two contractors go bust. A construction company going into administration can of course happen with these kinds of projects, and it happened when the Conservatives ran the Council. What is unacceptable is the achingly slow pace at which this Liberal Democrat administration moves.
The first contractor carrying out the work went into administration in July 2022. It took until March of this year, and after Conservative councillors raised the issue, for the Liberal Democrat administration to get its act together and find a new contractor.
In March an article in this paper proclaimed: “Full steam ahead for Carnival Hub apartments”. In a carefully worded statement Leader of the Council, Cllr Stephen Conway, made no reference to the significant delays and said he was “delighted” to see the contractor had been “appointed to take this project forward”. Sadly, the steam, and one assumes the delight, rapidly ran out as the new contractor went into administration the very next month.
The delay in getting these flats finished will have eroded all profit the Council could have expected on them, assuming borrowing costs at 4%. Money is being squandered. Furthermore, these flats should have been available for people wanting to get on the housing ladder in one of the most desirable places to live in the country.
This lack of action on the part of the Liberal Democrat administration, who are propped up by Labour, is a far cry from their rhetoric when they were in opposition. When work was delayed for a mere 2 days while Conservative ran the Council on part of the Peach Place development following a contractor going into administration the Liberal Democrats appalled. Their then Leader claimed it was a “shambles”, showed a “cavalier approach”, and was “very expensive with the potential for significant delays”, potentially costing he estimated “an additional £1 million may be more”.
It all sounds rather hollow now. As in so many ways, Wokingham Liberal Democrats’ words in opposition do not match their actions in power.
Unfortunately, the Liberal Democrats have form when it comes to failing to make the most out of what the Council owns. The Conservatives have previously raised the fact that the Council has vast areas of space in its offices that are sitting empty, gathering dust. The administration could choose to rent the space to businesses, other public sector organisations or to charities. Or it could look to consolidate other Council services or equipment at Shute End, freeing up other vacant sites for further use. Instead, at great expense and involving a project that will take years, the Liberal Democrats want to move the Council to the old Marks and Spencer building – despite the challenges of access for the public and the lack of proper facilities for Council and committee meetings.
Your Conservative councillors carry on challenging the Liberal Democrats over their waste of your money. While the Liberal Democrats continue to claim they need more money, we will be fighting to ensure they are delivering value for taxpayers, before they demand more from you in Council Tax and charges.
