Continuing our analysis of the answers given by Cllr George Brown to Cllrs Welsford and Churchman in relation to his delegated decision to approve £220,000 on a new lift at the Botanic Garden, we move onto the next item.
Maintaining the fabric of the building
VB readers will remember in our first report of the delegated decision notice, it was claimed by the report author that
Item 15 “To enable the council to be able to move towards these, or other, forms of partnership working and alternative delivery methods, the fabric of the Visitor Centre must have been maintained to an appropriate level. “Appropriate” in this context not only means that the site may be considered a viable asset, but also a level which demonstrates the council’s commitment to investing in a key asset in its ownership.
Put simply, this meant that the IWC had to show that they had maintained the building, ensuring they could ‘hand it over’ in a good state.
Cllr Welsford queried this statement, asking Cllr Brown, if the current administration had been in power for the last five years, why had they not ensured that the fabric of the building had been properly maintained?
Cllr Brown’s reply was,
The Visitor Centre was constructed well before the current administration took control and this administration inherited a position where no provision for ongoing maintenance had been made.
Since that time, funding maintenance of the site has not been prioritised above competing priorities.
Put simply, the IWC were aware that the building was not being maintained, but other priorities ruled out spending any money on it.
