Downhill trajectory of secretive discussions
THE curse of Rossendale Council discussing important things in secret returned last week - with Ski Rossendale the subject this time.
We still don’t know too much about what is going on, largely because the council talked about its plans in the private part of its council agenda.
A discussion about whether to spend money on repairing a wall in Rawtenstall - £250,000, and of course very important - was heard in public, but the plan to give unspecified financial support to arguably Rossendale’s best-known visitor attraction was not (see our story on page 7).
Local government legislation allows such a state of affairs, but it goes against the council’s promise of being open and accountable with the electorate.
Local memories haven’t forgotten the Empty Homes Scandal - cost to the council still unknown but estimated to be at least £5m - and the millions poured into the Spinning Point regeneration project in Rawtenstall town centre, part of which simply isn’t happening now. Transparency around spending decisions is essential.
Under the Ski Rossendale plans, Ski Rossendale will remain as a limited company with its own staff. Rossendale Leisure Trust, which runs sports centres in the borough on behalf of the council, will own the company and be responsible for all of its operations.
The ski-slope, known throughout the North West and beyond, has been around for more than 40 years, but closed in 2011 when Rossendale Council had to find budget cuts. A group which took on the slope since then has made great strides in improving facilities but, based on what the council says, has hit financial problems because of Coronavirus.
So essentially Ski Rossendale returns to public ownership. It’s unclear what difference this will make to its financial fortunes, which perhaps played on the minds of Conservative councillors when they voted against the plans to move Ski Rossendale to the Leisure Trust.
The minutes of last week’s meeting do tell us who voted for and against the proposal, and in the main it was Labour councillors for it, and Conservative councillors against it.
We’re allowed to know what councillors thought of the proposal, but not the details of a proposal which presumably involves spending the money we give to the council via our taxes.
This isn’t a column opposing support for Ski Rossendale. It is a special place and despite the suggestion by Greensclough ward councillor Jimmy Eaton that Ski Rossendale was ‘past its sell by date’ due to the close proximity of the Chill Factore in Trafford, it’s surely good news that the council wants to help turn things around.
But what is different about Ski Rossendale now which makes it possible to transfer it to the Leisure Trust, when that apparently wasn’t possible in 2011? Why is the Leisure Trust happy to take it on now, but not then?
How much is the council preparing to invest, via the Leisure Trust, in Ski Rossendale? What do the accounts of Ski Rossendale look like at the moment? Where will this money to invest come from? And why is it that Rossendale Council is prepared to jump in and save Ski Rossendale, when it wasn’t prepared to take control of the future of Haslingden baths?
Like Ski Rossendale, the baths were handed over to an external group, but when the group hit obstacles which prevented the baths from re-opening, there was no offer by the council and the leisure trust to step in and take things over.
So many questions, but thanks to a cloak of secrecy at Rossendale Council, very few answers - and not for the first time.