by
Duncan Bruce (@duncanqbruce)
Last night myself and a few other Reading Young Labour members decided to attend the Full Council meeting at which the decision on the Civic Centre would be taken. On paper it seemed like it may be a controversial decision, after all, as Councillor's on all sides pointed out, who gets into politics to decide which £60m pound building to move to? However the arguments were presented well and I would say the key issue on which the decision was made was value for the taxpayer.
The three options presented were:
A) Remain at the Civic Centre
This option was the most costly at £93m. The Civic Centre is riddled with asbestos and due to its design no longer fits the requirements of the council. To remain in the Civic Centre would require major work as well as continued expensive upkeep. The Councillors were also informed that even if the building was refurbished it would not have full disabled access.
B) Move to the RG2 Building (Yell Building)
This option would cost £64.4m. Buying the RG2 building would cost £29.3m with annual costs of £3.6m over 25 years. RG2 would also need a great deal of refurbishment prior to council staff being able to move in. The borough would own the freehold of this option after the 25 year period.
C) Move to the Plaza West Building
This option would cost £59.6m. Purchase of the Plaza West building would cost £25.4m and would have an annual running cost of £3.17m, which includes £1.75m of repayments. The building has the advantage of having disabled access as well as the opportunity to open a nursery/creche for staff members. The borough would own the freehold of this option after the 25 year period.
The Labour Party, The Liberal Democrat Party, The Green Party and Cllr Mark Ralph who sits as an independent, supported a move to the Plaza West Building. It represented a far better option both in terms of value (Cheaper to buy, cheaper to upkeep) and in long term needs (Can take more staff than the RG2 building, Once the council own the freehold of the property the value for Plaza West would be higher, representing a better investment of taxpayer's money).
No party supported staying in the Civic Centre although The Green Party did indicate it would be their preferred choice had the cost not been so high. The Labour Group also proposed that the old Civic Centre would be knocked down to make way for the area to be regenerated, and in doing so support both the Broad Street Mall and the Hexagon. Cllr Jo Lovelock also indicated that the Council had been working to facilitate the movement of the Civic Centre Post Office into the Broad Street Mall (which is by far the most popular reason to visit the Civic) so as not to reduce footfall in the Mall.
However as with everything the Tories decided to show up unprepared and rather that talk about the issues of moving and what impact it may have, they decided to play politics with an attempt to pass this amendment:
1. Deplores Labour's public statement of a decision in favour of Plaza West in advance of tonight's Council debate and
2. Calls for the Labour Group to apologise to the people of Reading for their arrogance and the traducing of the cross-party democratic process, which had existed through the Civic Board
3. Notes the comments of a Labour Cabinet members that "when in power you can do what you like".
Unsurprisingly the amendment was viewed as childish and voted down, the Tories gaining no support from any party. It was probably at that point that myself and my Reading Young Labour colleagues realised that instead of trying to create debate or propose an alternative they simply wanted to play opposition politics. The Labour Party, The Liberal Democrat Party, The Green Party and Cllr Ralph ignored the comments of the Tories and moved onto the serious matter, with Cllr Daisy Benson proposing an amendment which was happily received by all parties (not the Tories) calling on proper scrutiny to be in place so that Councillors can be kept a breast and Cllr Ralph (Former Tory) speaking in favour saying that the Plaza West option represented the best value for the Taxpayer and that was very important in his decision making. We then proceeded to the final vote with The Labour Party, The Liberal Democrat Party, The Green Party and Cllr Mark Ralph all voting in favour of the move. The Tories abstained, refusing to vote, with Cllr Richard Willis commenting that the Tories would have supported the move but instead weren't going to because Labour had announced they supported Plaza West before the meeting.
As several people have said to me since, the move by the Tories was the wrong one to make. When it came to making a decision they were absent, and move importantly the voters in their wards who elected them were left without a voice. And, as Matthew Dent pointed out to me afterwards, wouldn't it be interesting if Labour (who are in opposition nationally) simply said they were not going to vote or take part because the Tories have announced a preference towards something before hand?
Clearly the Tory coined word "Omnishambles" has begun to spread...
Duncan Bruce (@duncanqbruce)
The three options presented were:
A) Remain at the Civic Centre
This option was the most costly at £93m. The Civic Centre is riddled with asbestos and due to its design no longer fits the requirements of the council. To remain in the Civic Centre would require major work as well as continued expensive upkeep. The Councillors were also informed that even if the building was refurbished it would not have full disabled access.
B) Move to the RG2 Building (Yell Building)
This option would cost £64.4m. Buying the RG2 building would cost £29.3m with annual costs of £3.6m over 25 years. RG2 would also need a great deal of refurbishment prior to council staff being able to move in. The borough would own the freehold of this option after the 25 year period.
C) Move to the Plaza West Building
This option would cost £59.6m. Purchase of the Plaza West building would cost £25.4m and would have an annual running cost of £3.17m, which includes £1.75m of repayments. The building has the advantage of having disabled access as well as the opportunity to open a nursery/creche for staff members. The borough would own the freehold of this option after the 25 year period.
The Labour Party, The Liberal Democrat Party, The Green Party and Cllr Mark Ralph who sits as an independent, supported a move to the Plaza West Building. It represented a far better option both in terms of value (Cheaper to buy, cheaper to upkeep) and in long term needs (Can take more staff than the RG2 building, Once the council own the freehold of the property the value for Plaza West would be higher, representing a better investment of taxpayer's money).
No party supported staying in the Civic Centre although The Green Party did indicate it would be their preferred choice had the cost not been so high. The Labour Group also proposed that the old Civic Centre would be knocked down to make way for the area to be regenerated, and in doing so support both the Broad Street Mall and the Hexagon. Cllr Jo Lovelock also indicated that the Council had been working to facilitate the movement of the Civic Centre Post Office into the Broad Street Mall (which is by far the most popular reason to visit the Civic) so as not to reduce footfall in the Mall.
However as with everything the Tories decided to show up unprepared and rather that talk about the issues of moving and what impact it may have, they decided to play politics with an attempt to pass this amendment:
1. Deplores Labour's public statement of a decision in favour of Plaza West in advance of tonight's Council debate and
2. Calls for the Labour Group to apologise to the people of Reading for their arrogance and the traducing of the cross-party democratic process, which had existed through the Civic Board
3. Notes the comments of a Labour Cabinet members that "when in power you can do what you like".
Unsurprisingly the amendment was viewed as childish and voted down, the Tories gaining no support from any party. It was probably at that point that myself and my Reading Young Labour colleagues realised that instead of trying to create debate or propose an alternative they simply wanted to play opposition politics. The Labour Party, The Liberal Democrat Party, The Green Party and Cllr Ralph ignored the comments of the Tories and moved onto the serious matter, with Cllr Daisy Benson proposing an amendment which was happily received by all parties (not the Tories) calling on proper scrutiny to be in place so that Councillors can be kept a breast and Cllr Ralph (Former Tory) speaking in favour saying that the Plaza West option represented the best value for the Taxpayer and that was very important in his decision making. We then proceeded to the final vote with The Labour Party, The Liberal Democrat Party, The Green Party and Cllr Mark Ralph all voting in favour of the move. The Tories abstained, refusing to vote, with Cllr Richard Willis commenting that the Tories would have supported the move but instead weren't going to because Labour had announced they supported Plaza West before the meeting.
As several people have said to me since, the move by the Tories was the wrong one to make. When it came to making a decision they were absent, and move importantly the voters in their wards who elected them were left without a voice. And, as Matthew Dent pointed out to me afterwards, wouldn't it be interesting if Labour (who are in opposition nationally) simply said they were not going to vote or take part because the Tories have announced a preference towards something before hand?
Clearly the Tory coined word "Omnishambles" has begun to spread...
