Councillors have clashed over which party was responsible for the loss-making £11 million multi-storey car park with one seeking assurances a decision like that can never be made again, writes Belinda Ryan.
The £11 million car park, which was funded by Cheshire East Council, made a loss of nearly £70,000 in its first six months of operation.
At an economy and growth committee, Odd Rode councillor Patrick Redstone (Con) sought assurance that members were made fully aware of any risks attached to future projects.
Cllr Redstone said: “I remember back to the committee meeting which we held, and a series of workshops looking into the town centre in Crewe development related to the bus station, and we sought assurances of officers during one of those meetings, that the project regarding the multi-storey car park was sufficiently tied to the rest of the development.”
He said those assurance were given but it turned out the assurances were dependent on the economic climate, not on a firm contract.
“When the economic climate changed, the multi-storey car park was left like a whale stranded on the beach in the middle of a scene of destruction as we had torn down the town centre and had no development to replace it,” he said.
“So, I wanted to ensure going forward that a decision like that can never be made and that all the risks of a decision like that are clearly identified in these reports and brought to our attention.”
Nantwich councillor Anna Burton (Lab) said she understood the car park had been built in good faith on the understanding HS2 was coming to Crewe.
“My understanding from the car park in Crewe is it was linked to the HS2 project, which the Conservative government had guaranteed to Crewe and Nantwich at the time,” she said.
“That was that they guaranteed that HS2 would be coming to Crewe, and that car park was built in good faith… so any criticisms levelled at the car park in Crewe need to be firmly placed with the past Conservative government.”
Cllr Redstone replied: “This is ridiculous.
“We were looking at the development which had a cinema and some shops attached to it, which was going to result in the need for a multi-storey car park.
“The economy changed. The developer decided it was not economically viable. It had nothing to do with HS2.”
Committee chair Michael Gorman (Ind) said: “I do appreciate the Punch and Judy stuff, but I’m not sure we’ve got time for it.”
He did then allow Cllr Burton a right of reply and she told Cllr Redstone: “It was actually a member of the Conservative party that pointed it out at a meeting I was at recently, so I think the Conservative party are very aware of where the responsibility for that lies.”
(Image by LDRS)
Absolute bunch of idiots and the Highways lot are the worst!
Putting a multi storey car park into a redundant town centre wasn’t easy, but Cheshire East managed it. So I’ll throw them another challenge, lift the car park and position it at the hospital, which does urgently need parking. All this mess you cause, repositioned pedestrian crossings in Vernon Way, then build an exact replica of that crossing further down near Oak Street and you go to the government wanting us to pay for your mistakes What an absolute shambles you lot are.
Even if HS2 had got to Crewe, it would never have become a “destination”. It never has been. The vast majority of people using Crewe station are merely changing trains and never leave the station. Cllr Burton talks rubbish most of the time, and this is no exception.
You can’t just build anything in good faith Cheshire East has left Crewe to rot over the last 10 years northwich has had investment Macclesfield has had work done on it even alsager has had the town center redone yet Crewe one of Cheshire East bigger towns of a population of around 70k people has had nothing apart from the car park and the removal of the indoor market to be replaced with only food outlets which is ridiculous and then they removed the outdoor market and the car boot areas to be replaced with a cinema area when you have a theatre right next to it why not put the cinema inside the theatre would make more sense as is the purpose built building and then you can use the outdoor space for markets and meetings etc Cheshire East destroyed half the town of crewe for no reason they did it on so-called good faith you can’t destroy a town on good faith because now crew is a bomb site people are not shopping in crew crew as deteriorated and the level of investment both in the train station and the town centre is appalling crew is the gateway to our county it’s the first major town from the south yet when you’ve come to crew it’s a dive it’s unsafe run down and and nobody wants to come to the town centre everybody goes to the retail park Cheshire East has destroyed the town centre and now it’s going to be years before they come up with an idea to fix it they need to rebuild the town center with shops like it was before but more modern none of this let’s lay grass and put containers on their putting a few bedding and benches on there it’s a town centre it’s a shopping place and meeting place this is what it needs to be developed into why don’t you put the market on there or make it into a marketplace there is a lot of things you could do with that space yet it’s sat there and we will be for years with a big multi-story car park built opposite and open car park why don’t you close the car park opposites and then people would use to multi-storey car park and then you could build on the land like it was originally going to happen but again Cheshire East has got no money or desire to invest in crew town centre or the railway station crewes train station is in desperate need of repair half the roof is still missing has been for over 10 years and it’s a joke that what was once a busy vibrant town is now nothing more then a slum it’s run down crime is rife by that I mean there is a lot of druggys people who are drunk in the streets gangs of yobs hanging around in the town you don’t feel safe more so once it’s go dark it’s a sad state and Cheshire East is to blame a long with central government Crewe is the forgotten town which no one has a clue what to do with it or how to fix it no one wants to deal with Crewe that blame each other yet between them that have destroyed a town and now the people of Crewe are paying for it though the quality of life that they have and things that are available to them in there own town sad thing is it won’t change anytime soon if at all it’s been lije this for over 10 years so i doubt Crewe is at the top of the list to get investment it is sadly seen as a dumb by the council and because of that thay are not interested in the town and focus on the other towns and it is wrong Cheshire east needs to sort its self out stop blameing us the people and fix Cheshire East.
As a collective they are all responsible , equally incompetent and should resign.
As someone who pays his CT and spends money in Nantwich I don’t care about finger pointing. CE is to blame , equally , pathetic and incompetent, all should resign and let’s elect people who can deliver what we need
so many more on the ball councils have converted them to single dwelling social housing, clearly they can make a start on at least the top deck, they are built like pods that just slide in, far better use
CEC councillors once again messed up does it really matter who’s to blame. Only thing is £11 million wasted money and proves who ever signed off on it whether that be Lab or Con . None of CEC could run a jumble sale never mind a council.
Typical of councillors to argue who was responsible for this Crewe carbuncle carpark. It should never have been built in first place, as there isn’t enough infrastructure to support it, by way of shops, recreation, businesses etc etc. Like Liebour said they inherited 20billion black hole, yet they have increased that even further and WE the tax payers are buffering financial ineptitude and mismanagement. Very poor politicians/councillors, who back track and blame out going parties. SUCK IT UP AND GET ON WITH NOT WASTING PUBLIC MONEY.
Why on earth would HS2 have any bearing on a town centre car park. Its no where near the station. And if HS2 Phase 2 is so wonderful why doesnt your party restart it?
Simply Cheshire East Council should have obtained funding from Central Government to pay for the 11 million pounds on consultants and the additional 11 million pounds for the car park.
There is no excuse.
It is financial mismanagement. It is total incompetence.
It like me ordering an expensive car on the assumption i will win on the Post Code Lottery. You would not do it.
Please look at my previous comments. I have never witnessed the levels of incompetence shown by Cheshire East Councillors, Directors and Senior Executives. If it was not tax payers money it would be laughable. In the private sector you would face disciplinary proceedings and dismissal. It is simply unbelievable that these individuals remain as councillors, directors and senior executives.
Bluntly the citizens of Cheshire East are sick to the back teeth of the waste of huge amounts of money by Cheshire East Council.
The multi story car park is just one example.
What is done is done,time for all you clowns to come together and work out a fully costed way forward to rebuild the town centre and attract retailers back.
Or we could all except the obvious and admit that due to poor planning years ago that Crewe town centre is effectively the retail park.