Councillors urge mayor to rethink reckless property purchase

A cross party group of Councillors have called for the Mayor to rethink his decision to purchase the Lloyds Bank building on Bedford High Street at an inflated price. 

Cllr Henry Vann commented: 

“This is how Local Authorities go bust. They are spending money they don’t have. Buying this building is a huge and expensive purchase - £1,375,000, plus over a hundred thousand pounds of other costs.  Even worse, it appears as though the council is paying far above what it is worth.”

“It is evident that the Lloyds building requires considerable work, and there is no clear plan on what to do with it. This three-storey building is currently in a dilapidated state on its top floors. The roof is leaking, and the pigeons are getting in.”

It makes me angry that the Conservatives always claim money is short when it comes to basic services for residents, but they always seem to have enough for their pet projects.  They are behaving like its spending pretend money on a monopoly board - not creating an expensive liability for taxpayers to pick up the bill for.”

Independent Councillor Doug McMurdo said, “Mayor Tom Wootton allows hope to triumph over experience. Wishing the Town Centre to be more vibrant doesn’t make it so. The Mayor shares no plans on how to deploy capital on over expensive assets particularly against a backdrop of serious budget constraints, on front line services. This is highly worrying and I have serious concerns about value for Bedford Borough taxpayers.”

Green Councillor Lucy Bywater commented, “I have put my name to the calls to halt this decision as it just doesn’t seem to make sense. Buying this building, in a poor state and at such an inflated price, is a huge risk which council taxpayers could end up paying for year on year. Bedford residents need money spending on vital services, not vanity schemes, and this is likely to come with new costs whilst pressures are increasing elsewhere on council budgets.”