Does anyone support this?

Andrew Mobbs, leader of WDC, states with confidence that the proposed new council HQ will enhance the town and generate affordable housing and help the town centre by putting WDC staff close to the shops and that the proposal is cost neutral – an impressive array of claims.

To begin at the end – the proposal is “cost neutral” because the £7-plus million cost will be provided by the sale of valuable building land at Riverside House and Court Street and it must have been assumed that the new office block will be as valuable as the land that has been sold.

The funding of affordable housing has no special connection with the location of the new HQ and any office in the town centre would enable WDC staff to shop locally and also serve as an accessible ‘One Stop Shop’ for the public. His comment is a series of non-sequiturs.

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Not one letter published in the Courier since this idea was announced has been in favour of the proposal, which may be evidence of editorial bias, but is more likely to be due to solid public opposition to this expensive and impractical scheme. Mr Mobbs invites readers to “contact your ward councillors and myself with your comments”. We endorse this request

Marianne Pitts, via email