Plan will double the mortgage on Priory
Dominic Boeck and Roger Croft (Thatcham South and Crookham) have resigned from the community resource committee after claiming that the council was wasting money by not selling the building and stalling on decision-making.
Two weeks ago, it was revealed that the council was considering converting the Grade II-listed building in Church Lane into office space for its staff, meaning its current home in Brownsfield Road could be sold or rented out.
However, Tory committee members suggested that the most cost-effective solution was to sell the derelict building.
Mr Boeck said: “The Liberal Democrat vanity project will more than double the council's mortgage on the property of £400k, without consulting the hard-pressed taxpayers of Thatcham.
“In four years of indecision since the council bought the Priory it has fallen into disrepair, pushing up the cost of making it usable again.
“The plan will not provide the council with the space it needs, yet the Liberal Democrats are determined to push ahead with it. They [the Liberal Democrats] are in no mood to accept that enough money has been spent on this crumbling wreck. A once fine building has been allowed to deteriorate while Liberal Democrats dithered.
“I don’t want to see Thatcham lumbered with the cost of their indecision and Thatcham residents must be asked for their views.”
Thatcham Town Council leader Lee Dillon (Lib Dem, Thatcham North) said that by “throwing their toys out of the pram” Mr Boeck and Mr Croft had lost the opportunity to influence the decision made.
The chairman of the committee, Mike Cole (Lib Dem, Thatcham North), said that the role of the committee was to scrutinise the decisions made, and that it was useful to have members who were a “bit more sceptical”, adding that their resignations were regrettable.
The town council bought the Priory from West Berkshire Council for £400,000 in 2010, in order to save it for public use.
Talking about how long the building had been empty, the deputy leader of of the council, Gary Johnson (Lib Dem, Thatcham West), said that he believed they had been working as quickly as possible, but that the election in 2011 had caused a hold-up.
He said: “With the new administration coming in, there had been a delay and this would have created some problems with the building, but there is now a programme in place to redevelop it for the town and the general public.”
Mr Dillon said that he was not looking to fill the positions on the committee, but that he welcomed any Conservative members to come forward.