Waverley’s business website has a new dashboard for the most recent footfall and vacancy rate data, which is helpful for businesses.
Has Waverley council omitted to mention Blightwells in Farnham – or is it pretending that the vast mega-million Surrey County Council-funded development has just disappeared from view?
The data shows Waverley’s high streets are doing well, with figures above the national average.
This information will be updated every six months on www.businesswaverley.co.uk.
The “coalition” administration of the borough seems to be as keen as the previous Tory one to hide the reality of this disaster. Years ago, when there was a short-lived Liberal administration, we waited eagerly for some light to be shed on the original contract signed with Crest-Knickerson, but one Liberal councillor confided to us that that they were constrained by the terms of that contract from releasing it.
In my view, a company’s bid documents should only be confidential whilst the competition is running and should be disclosed once the contract is awarded so we know the basis of why the award was made. Clearly, such transparency does not obtain with development contracts, and the FOI has no validity thereto.
What we do know is that a large number of “non-material amendments” were waived through during the Potts administration, amounting to very significant changes plus a massive cut in the rental to be paid by the developer.
Possibly a large sum was advanced at contract award to help SCC-WBC get over the costs of the Refuse award debacle.
A scandal needs a light shone into the darkest corners of Surrey County Council/Waverley Borough Councils’ actions led by the Tories. Oh! What a tangled web they weave.