Minutes:
Question
In the Executive papers before you tonight you are being asked to agree to spend a further considerable amount of money purchasing property for the regeneration of Wokingham Town Centre.
The residents of Woodley along with others in the whole Borough are picking up the bill for a huge amount of borrowing to spend on one of the three towns in the Borough.
When can Woodley residents expect the same treatment – that is around £138 million being spent on Woodley Town Centre?
Answer
Later on this evening there is a proposal for a further acquisition in the town centre. As is set out in that paper it is an opportunity that has arisen and has been assessed in terms of the benefit to WBC as a whole; not only is it a good financial deal for WBC but it also adds benefits to the regeneration of the town by its adjacency to one of our current sites.
The regeneration of Wokingham is identified within the adopted Core Strategy and it also forms part of our Vision. Inside all our agendas if you look at the fourth point down in our Vision it says “Invest in regenerating towns and villages, support social and economic prosperity, whilst encouraging business growth” and this is one of our core visions.
In terms of the total cost of the regeneration scheme, and I will come back to answer your question in a second, based on the cash flow developed in April this year, it is expected to a generate £3.5 million per annum financial contribution in 2022 to 2023 when the whole scheme is complete and fully income producing. This figure is after meeting the cost of interest on the borrowing; at 2.8% interest per annum, the current PWLB rate that has been secured. This potentially rises to £4.4m income after the debt is fully repaid; currently estimated to be financial year 2029/30.
This surplus is for the benefit of all our residents, including those who live in Woodley. Not only are we regenerating the town of Wokingham, providing additional homes, local employment and creating a great place to shop, it also makes a significant financial contribution for the benefit of all the residents across the whole of the Borough.
We will continue to evaluate other opportunities that make sense when they present themselves and make financial sense across the Borough. So it is for the whole of the Borough not just for the Wokingham residents.
Supplementary Question
I have lived in Woodley for about 40 years and been a Member of this Council for well over 20 years and a few years ago the Conservative Administration sold off the premises that they owned in Woodley. They sold the Woodley silver and took the cash then.
The imbalance of spending in this Borough, between Wokingham and Woodley and the other towns and villages, is clearly not fair. The Authority needs to be less Wokingham centric. I would like you to assure us that all future spending will be fair and equitable in the Borough and I am very sad that not I, or many of my residents, will live long enough to see any work done in Woodley town centre that repays them for what they have paid for Wokingham town centre.
Supplementary Answer
I would just like to point out that my colleagues have reminded me that there are two extra care home facilities in Woodley and also there have been quite a lot of leisure developments in Woodley. I hear what you are saying. This was a process that we are starting across the Borough and I think my brief is to do town centres and villages throughout the Borough not just to concentrate on one place but we started with one place quite rightly.
The Leader of Council stated that every time we bring something here in terms of investment it is to generate income as well which can then be spent in other areas in the Borough. It can either be spent as investment or as revenue to then help our more vulnerable throughout the community. So it is not just limited to spend again in Wokingham; it can be spent throughout the whole of the Borough.