The Civic - an end to the dithering but is this best value?

12.28.11pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 24th Jul 2006

The Liberal Democrat opposition on Guildford Borough Council have given a qualified welcome to the decision by the Conservative Executive to go-ahead with a £19.5 million new-build Civic Hall at London Road.

Liberal Democrat Group Leader Cllr Fiona White said "At least the Tories have now reached a decision after over a year of dithering since the original contractors, Taylor Woodrow, pulled out. For the sake of Guildford's residents, who just want their Civic back, we hope this project will now go ahead to a successful conclusion. Residents have been without the Civic for over two years, since the Tories closed it prematurely in January 2004. It's not good enough for the Tories to blame 'factors outside their control' for the delay - we warned them there might be problems and said they should keep the Civic open until they were sure of its replacement, but they ignored us. Some 2,000 people signed a petition to keep it open, but they were ignored too. Now the Tories owe it to residents to get a move on."

Cllr White was very concerned that the University had been let down by the Executive. She pointed out that only a few weeks ago the Conservatives had been enthusiastically promoting the idea of moving the Civic to the Stag Hill campus, and were all set to sign a 'Memorandum of Understanding' with the University and two anonymous partners. Cllr White had asked detailed questions about that scheme, but her concerns had been brushed aside. Cllr White said after the latest Executive decision "It seems the University was led up the garden path, and I wouldn't blame them if they feel betrayed by this decision. The Liberal Democrats warned the Tories that they needed to consult the public about such a move. Since they showed no signs of doing so, we carried out our own survey that showed the public were overwhelmingly opposed to the principle of moving the Civic. The Tories have belatedly recognised that public opposition. It's a shame they didn't consult first rather than raising the University's hopes."

Cllr Vivienne Johnson, Lib Dem Spokesperson on Property, was not convinced the Executive had done a thorough investigation of how to get best value for the council tax payers. She was concerned that Executive member Cllr Andrew French had described a proposal for a more basic £9 million refurbishment of the existing building as a 'glorified coat of paint'. Cllr Johnson said "It doesn't say much for their financial judgement that Conservatives can describe a £9 million scheme in such dismissive terms. Three quarters of the residents who responded to the Lib Dem survey preferred a cheaper refurbishment to an expensive new build, and I am not convinced that the £19.5 million new-build represents best value for money for council tax payers. Tory dithering and changing cost estimates so far do not inspire confidence. We shall be watching the finances of this project very carefully."