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)
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