Tories told to think again about expensive bank purchase

The majority of councillors scrutinising the Conservative Mayor’s plan to buy the Lloyd’s Bank building (34 High Street, Bedford) at a special ‘call in’  meeting on Wednesday agreed to require him to think again about the proposal. 
One of the cross-party Call-in signatories, Cllr Henry Vann, Leader of the Bedford Borough Liberal Democrats, commented:
“We are ambitious for Bedford Borough and want to see our Town Centres thrive. However, the purchase of a property at significantly above market value and without a clear business case is reckless, and not ambitious at all. A spending spree with taxpayers’ hard-earned money is not helping the town centre in any way. The Mayor arranged for the purchase of Debenhams by the council earlier this year, and it lies empty – alongside other council-owned property, all the while costing council taxpayers money. Buying another dilapidated building represents a huge and expensive purchase - £1,375,000, plus other costs. Even worse, the Council decision shows they are overpaying by £455,000 more than a professional valuation by the council’s own consultants.”
“We want to see high footfall in the Bedford town centre. On our watch a town centre cinema returned alongside restaurants and residential apartments in the Riverside Development in 2017. We did this by having clear, public plans and working with a development partner. The Mayes Yard scheme, which was first proposed by the Liberal Democrats, should not be put at risk as taxpayers’ money is squandered. The people of Bedford Borough deserve better.”