There is an interesting sidebar to the rather chaotic eviction of residents from the parish office on Monday (27th June). Whilst the council pretended to debate the merits of publishing the Complaints document, there was some thought-provoking discussions between residents outside.

During the council meeting one resident asked “what was the final cost for the upgrade to the car park?”. He received a rather belligerent response “We don’t know yet?”. Nearly three years in the planning and execution and they don’t know how much it cost?

So for many of those outside of the meeting room, the main topic of discussion centred around the finances of the Car Park and the HUB and in particular the lack of transparency. No need to quote the councils code of conduct, but the word is in there!

So what did these impressive assets cost the residents of Melbourn. Ideas ranged between £350,000 to £500,000 for the car park and close to £1 million for the Hub. Taking into account they are both tied up with a mortgage, over the lifetime of the loan, someone estimated the final cost for the Hub to be in excess of £3 million.

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Just to make it clear, the figures quoted above are those speculated by residents of the village – because they have no idea what the actual costs are.

It was suggested that residents should look at the minutes on the Parish Council website ‘because it’s all there’. Well, that may be true. But since the expenditure of any large project is likely to be spread over months, it is unlikely you will find the total cost – unless you look through all the minutes.

In the minutes for the parish council for October 2015 there is expenditure of £24,699.82 to Interserve Construction Ltd and £3,315.60 to Sweet UK ltd. Again in November, Interserve received £45,026.16 and Sweet £2715.60 and finally December Interserve £88,828.21 and Sweet £1,200. There may be more in the earlier months, but I think you get the picture, there is no defined cost and it is clear how speculation can offer such large figures.

The total sum for these three council minutes is £165,783. If that is the total for the project, it certainly did not require such an aggressive answer “We don’t know yet”. It just adds to the speculation.

As for the Hub, again there is no indication of the total cost there are two loans in the minute for December for £650,000 and £200,000. I am sure if you look through the earlier minutes they will show what the Hub cost.

But should we really need to be an accountant to find out what the residents spend?

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Strangely enough, for many residents, it isn’t so much what the projects actually cost, it is the attitude of the council and their refusal to tell the TAX-payer what they are entitled to know.

Unlike the Complaints document which has no commercial value the HUB and Car Park would have had ‘commercially sensitive’ information and so the process to keep those secret by using in-camera is understandable.

However, it is now two years since the HUB was completed and six months for the car park, so there is no longer ‘commercially sensitive’ information to hide behind.

Once again the Chairman of Melbourn Parish Council has presided over a level of secrecy unprecedented in Melbourn. As was stated at Mondays meeting, Melbourn has more in-camera meetings than any other council in South Cambs.

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 we are all entitled to know.

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For more information visit Melbourn Parish Council Website (Click here)