Greenham control tower project costs to pass to parish

Parish council seeking £150,000 for stalling flagship project

Greenham residents will have to bear the brunt of 25 years of debt after councillors agreed to bid for a £150,000 loan to fund the latest setback to the control tower project.

The project to transform a Cold War control tower into a visitor centre and café has now been placed on hold after it was revealed Greenham Parish Council could not afford crucial repairs to the roof.

Councillors had been optimistic of a June opening, but the significant damage means all work has now been halted for risk of breaching financial regulations.

Speaking at a Greenham Parish Council meeting, councillor Steve Westbrook said: “We have a funding shortfall and can’t do anything further because we would be in breach of regulations.

“The roof is shot and it needs to be repaired. There’s little point in doing any further work until we fix the roof.

“It’s the roof and the guttering we are talking about because we see that as an essential next step in getting this building within date.

“We can’t do any more work on the control tower until we have that in place. The longer we delay the more it leaks and the more damage it causes, and the more expensive it will be.”

He said that one quotation had priced repairs for the 70sq m of roofing at around £75,000, but that this was likely over-specced.

The £150,000 loan, he argued, would be paid for through Public Works Loan Board funding with repayments to be made by the parish over the next 25 years.

Councillor Westbrook added: “It could be less but we want to have a little bit of wriggle room.”

Newly-appointed clerk to the council, Roger Chester, asked if there was a plan B.

Mr Westbrook answered: “We have looked for a plan B and people have said just give it back. That’s really not an option.

“I would like to think there was a plan B but I have given this a lot of thought and have no ideas.”

Not all councillors supported the deal, however. Pragna Hay said that she was concerned about tying up Greenham tax payers to 25 years of debt.

She told fellow councillors: “I am not sure it is the right thing to do and on that basis I have to abstain.”

Council chairman Phil Barnett said: “I think we are where we are with a very difficult position and we have got very few options.

“That figure hasn’t been taken lightly. It has been looked at very closely. It’s not plucking a figure out of the air. We are looking at the overall and what we feel would be appropriate.

“We are where we are and this is a way to make sure we can guarantee to complete on the time scale which is of course what the public want.

“We are getting a lot of questions asking when it’s going to be completed.”

The parish council voted by a majority to approach the board in order to secure the loan.