A million-pound contract isn’t being torn up just weeks after ‘Your Waverley’ approved it. 

Following concerns raised by Farnham Residents Cllr Jerry Hyman, the decision to take the grounds maintenance contract back’ in-house’ will be rescinded for further scrutiny.

The Tory Group leader, Cllr Jane Austin, loves a good story particularly if she can hold her administration enemies to account. since joining the council she has put a capital P into Waverley politics.

As former MP Anne Milton so often said:

“When things go wrong, it is seldom a conspiracy, more often just cock-ups.”

Waverley Council believed that, as the contract with its existing supplier of grounds maintenance had ended, it could provide the residents of the borough with a higher quality service if it were “hands-on”

By taking control, it could be more flexible and overcome and adapt to residents’ concerns about how neglected areas were handled. It is believed that by changing from former contractor Krinkels, the towns and parishes would have more say now and in the future, despite looming devolution.

So the decision hasn’t been “ripped up” as Cllr Austin is happily trumpeting all over the borough and on social media. Due to concerns raised, the full council meeting has decided to reconsider the decision, giving its Overview & Scrutiny Committee (which never raised any concerns when initially given the opportunity) to scrutinise the proposal further.

Last week, CEO Pedro Wrobels apologised unreservedly for misleading members by saying he had spoken personally by consulting with the contractors.

 Councillor Jane Austin told the meeting she proposed the motion to protect honesty in council dealings and uphold the right way of conducting council business.

She said: “What was in question here was honesty, honesty from councillors, and actually from officers – certainly what was in the reports, whether our decision-making process was robust and whether the councillors had been provided sufficient appropriate information they could rely on.”

Leader Cllr Paul Follows seconded the motion, saying  there were “concerns that the executive may have voted to take the ground maintenance in-house without having been provided with all the facts.” However, he took issue with Cllr Austin’s comments when she questioned council officers’ “honesty.”