Clouds looming over The Bandstand - where does this leave asset management?

You may have read my previous blog entry about the failure of the Lib-Dem run Eastbourne Council's asset management program. This was exposed during a new member training session last September when it became clear that clear cabinet instructions given by the previous Conservative administration prior to the 2007 local elections had not been acted upon. Perhaps of even more concern was that the current Lib-Dem administration then looked at the issue again in 2008 but did nothing about it.

I found this staggering given that shortly after this, lumps of concrete began falling off the Congress Theatre which has since been shrowded in unsightly scaffolding and faded advertising hoarding. When I challenged the Lib-Dems at the October Cabinet meeting they failed to provide an acceptable response but claimed they felt they had more important things to concentrate on.

Hot on the heels of this embarrassing saga, we witnessed the shameful episode that saw the council pay the tennants of the Wish Tower Restaurant over £130,000 to get out, only to find that the once loved seafront attraction had been trashed before the tennants were paid to go and the building had fallen in to such disrepair that the first strong winds of the winter lifted part of the roof up allowing wet weather into the building.

After highlighting this issue, I decided to put politics to one side and work with the administration on the newly formed Strategic Property Board to try and sort the mess out in the interests of the residents of Eastbourne. Work started at the end of last year and a comprehensive list of assets and property was drawn up which ranges from small unadopted portions of land, public toilets and neighbourhood play areas to community centres, sports centres, theatres, tourist attractions and even tennant farms on our surrounding downland.

Very soon the scale of the challenge became clear and as the first property inspections took place, lots of essential repairs started to be identified with many more that would clearly need planning being added to the list. I have already made my views clear on how this process is being handled and stated quite clearly that I think more resource should be put into getting the inspections completed sooner so that we can give taxpayers and staff confidence that they are safe in council property. In addition to these comments, I also contributed to the first fully costed opposition alternative budget in many years and we made provision in this budget to double to pace of inspections. You may not be surprised to hear that the Lib-Dems used their small majority on the council to veto these plans.

Now we have the bizarre situation where emergency repairs required at The Bandstand have lead to yet another key attraction being boarded up and planned events moved to alternative venues. This is bizarre because it was The Bandstand and some underpinning repairs which were highlighted in 2006 which lead to the previous Conservative administration to demand a proper asset management strategy be put together. We believed this to be essential back then, not just to ensure people are safe on council property but also because the more we know about our assets, the better we can utilise them, either by improving them so they provide better services and benefits to residents or disposing of some if they can no longer provide value for money for residents.

I have serious concerns about how we move forward. It has become clear that the Lib-Dems will stop at nothing to achieve their aims. We now know that despite a report to the October 2011 Cabinet Meeting in which were lead to believe that the only option for the Wish Tower Restaurant was demolition, they never intended to consider repairs and further use until a partner could be found to carry out a more ambitious redevelopment and showing a shameful disregard to the family that gifted the restaurant to the town as a tribute to residents who lost their lives during World War Two.

Now we have a situation where serious problems have been identified at The Bandstand and although Councillors have received information from hard working officers within the Events Team about plans being made to move the Events Program to alternative venues, either all Councillors on the Strategic Property Board are being kept in the dark or my willingness to work with my oponents for the greater good is not being shown the respect it deserves as I have recieved no official confirmation of just what repairs are needed, how much this will cost or when we can expect to be able to use The Bandstand again and have had to read about it in the local newspaper for two weeks running.

I will of course be raising my concerns at the next Strategic Property Board meeting scheduled to take place this coming Wednesday afternoon and will decide then what action I should take next.