Council investment plans curtailed
Lib Dems criticise proposals for huge development in Thatcham
WEST Berkshire Council has been forced to cut short a £100m investment project.
The Conservative-run council has borrowed £62m from the Gover nment’s Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) and used that low-interest loan to buy commercial property such as offices and shops.
It bought buildings across the country, including an £8m office block in Newbury Business Park, a £2.9m bank in Eastbourne and a £7m Sainsbury’s store in a market town in North Yorkshire.
Those properties are rented out and the council aims to make a profit of around £1.26m (two per cent) each year, so it can reinvest that money in front-line services.
Council documents say the £62.08m portfolio has a running yield of 4.92 per cent, with annual rents from properties amounting to £3.07m
They add that a budgeted contribution of £700,000 is made annually to the council’s revenue budget.
The council had planned to borrow £100m in total, but in November 2020 the Government said councils should stop borrowing from the PWLB to invest in property purely for profit.
The council’s commercial property investment strategy is now proposing to cease all future acquisitions of investment assets primarily for yield to ensure that the council can access PWLB borrowing to finance its future infrastructure needs.
The council is expecting to borrow up to £29.7m in 2021/22 to support its capital strategy.
Executive member for finance Ross Mackinnon (Con, Bradfield), said: “We will not be looking to make any further purchases of commercial property.
“We will certainly be maintaining the current property portfolio to generate income, but further purchases are off the table.”
Mr Mackinnon had previously said that the council is not concerned about property prices falling during the Covid19 pandemic, because it has no immediate plans to sell them.
In a report, the Government said councils will be allowed to take out PWLB loans to invest in local infrastructure and regeneration projects, but cannot borrow money “primarily for yield”.
There are 301 volunteers
The clinic runs three four-hour shifts a day: 8am-noon, 11.30am3.30pm, 3pm-7pm
Each shift requires 30 volunteers (likely to increase when the car parking area is extended)
Volunteers are from all parts of West Berkshire covering all nine surgeries involved
The age range of volunteers is 16 to 75
The male/female ratio is roughly 50:50
Many couples have signed up as volunteers
Tea, coffee, snacks consumed? – countless!
A REVIEW that includes building up to 2,500 homes in Thatcham needs to be reconsidered, West Berkshire Liberal Democrats have said.
The party was responding to West Berkshire Council’s Local Plan Review, which assesses housing and employment sites and policies to 2037.
The review includes strategic housing proposals for up to 2,500 homes in north east Thatcham and 1,500 at Sandleford Park.
Consultation on the Local Plan Review closed last Friday.
Opposition leader Lee Dillon (Thatcham North East) said: “Despite the hard work our planning officers have put into this plan, it definitely isn’t ‘oven ready’.
“All the evidence base pre-dates Covid and Brexit and we think it can be better future-proofed without dumping loads more homes on Thatcham.”
West Berkshire Council said that north east Thatcham was the best location for development and would provide the infrastructure the town is currently lacking.
It added that the geography of West Berkshire restricted development elsewhere as 74 per cent of the district falls under the Area of
Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Further restrictions include the detailed emergency planning zones (DEPZ) surrounding AWE sites in Aldermaston and Burghfield.
The council has now reconsidered its allocation towards a 15,000-home garden town development at Grazeley as the DEPZ was extended last year.
Mr Dillon said: “It was a huge shock to my constituents to find they’re having an estate the size of Hungerford across Floral Way.
“It is only in the plan because the new town at Grazeley is thought to be a non-starter.
“I can’t believe the Conservatives haven’t learned the lesson from Sandleford, which is twofold: don’t put all your eggs in one basket and have the traffic modelling done before you claim such a large site will deliver homes on time.”
The Lib Dems said that the pandemic would change rural communities and planning needed to account for this.
Planning spokesman Dr Tony Vickers (Newbury, Wash Common) said: “In the post-Covid world people won’t be commuting to work every day. They’ll have more time to spend in their communities, so we are promoting the idea of ‘vibrant villages’.
“That means more housing, but only where it won’t spoil the beauty – even if that means allowing exceptional carbon neutral designed homes.”
The Lib Dems said they would put the climate emergency front and centre of the Local Plan.
Environment spokesman Adrian Abbs (Newbury, Wash Common) said: “We would boost the neighbourhood planning support team in the council and promote community-led schemes across larger villages, where facilities like pubs and shops are in danger of becoming unviable.
“We also want a distinct policy on renewable energy, including a focus on community schemes, instead of it being buried like an afterthought.”
West Berkshire Council said that new homes were built to the highest quality environmental standards.