Council criticised over secret Shirehall discussion
A move by Shropshire Council to have a report on the future of the Pride Hill Centre in Shrewsbury discussed behind closed doors has been branded “a disgrace”.
Councillor David Vasmer, leader of the Liberal Democrat group, the main opposition party to the Conservative administration, said the people of Shropshire had a right to know what was being planned.
He is urging all councillors to vote against the report being debated in private session.
The paper was due to be published this week before officers decided in a last-minute u-turn that it had to be kept secret on grounds that it contained sensitive financial information.
It contains details of why the council now plans to abandon proposals to turn the Pride Hill Centre into its new headquarters, and instead build a new office block in the Riverside area.
The report will be presented to members at a full council meeting next Thursday, following a vote to exclude press and public.
Councillor Vasmer said holding the debate in secret “adds insult to injury” – after the shopping centres plummeted in value from £51 million to just over £12 million in the three years since the council bought them.
He said: “Plans that were going to be debated in open session have now been circulated privately to councillors who will vote on a motion to exclude the press and public before they are debated in private.
“I will be urging councillors of all parties who believe in open government to oppose the motion to exclude the press and public next Thursday.
“I will also be calling for a named vote so that Shropshire’s residents can see how their councillor has voted.
“There is one reason for the shopping centres being discussed in private – they are an embarrassment for Shirehall’s Tories who have squandered millions but plead poverty when residents want something done.
“Their financial mismanagement knows no bounds and makes a mockery of the council’s much vaunted commitment to value for money and decisions based on intelligence.
“Another commitment is to continuously improve performance – but the opposite seems to be the case.
“Something is seriously wrong in Shirehall. We have years of plans being scrapped or changed radically.
“Road trials in Shrewsbury have been halted mid trial or even before they have started.
“Only a few years ago, Shirehall was to have a glamour makeover with shops and for let offices.
“Then the civic centre was to go into Pride Hill. Now it will go elsewhere but we councillors are not allowed to tell the public or the press what the latest ideas are.
“That’s why we are calling for the paper on the shopping centres to be published before the council meeting.
“Everyone in Shrewsbury and across the county has the right to see what is being proposed.
“They have a right to discuss it with their local councillor before any decisions are made at next Thursday’s council meeting.”
The meeting will be held at Theatre Severn, starting at 10am.
Mark Barrow, the council’s executive director of place, said: “There are still some outstanding commercially sensitive issues which are to be concluded.
“Once it is possible to share more information we will be publishing a full set of proposals for the public to see and comment upon. We will be as transparent as we can.”
