Public Meeting in Wadebridge

I would like to start off by thanking the chairman of the scrutiny committee who decided to bring the councillors out from County Hall today and visit our town, and view both Tenant and Trevanion Road Council offices.
As many of you will know, the Cabinet of Cornwall Council are being asked to consider a rationalization process of all the offices we own. The Trenant site had been illustrated in the agenda as being surplus to requirements. Many, many people believe that the site is being underused at present, there is some argument that this was always the plan in order to re site in Bodmin and sell the site to a well known supermarket chain.
We were told today that the new proposed building in Bodmin would cost 12 million pounds and this would be funded from the finance generated by the sale in Wadebridge.
The scrutiny role is to examine the decisions made by the Cabinet and insure they are correct and in the best interests of the people of the Duchy.
It became clear early on that the local councillors from all political backgrounds disagreed that Trenant should be sold. I asked two questions of the officer in charge.
Firstly and most obviously, why is it considered appropriate and cost effective to sell of a perfectly efficient building in Wadebridge and spend council tax monies on a purpose built building 7 miles down the road?
Secondly, have the officers considered the economic impact of withdrawing the staff from Trenant and Trevanion on the centre of Wadebridge?

My own feelings are that Trevanion Road would make an excellent location for affordable housing for locals. The people who work there should then be relocated to Trenant, making use of the facility we currently have. This can then be used as one, of possibly two strategic hubs in the East of the Duchy. It makes no sense to sell a perfectly good building and build another at a cost to the tax payer.
I am not against getting rid of assets that aren't energy efficient, aren't being used to their full potential or can't be justified in the current economic climate. However the business case needs to hold weight, I believe here in Wadebridge it does not.

Unitary transition- Wadebridge feeling the pain

Anyone who felt the Unitary transition was in the best interests of local people should hang their head in shame.
Today the agenda for the cabinet has been produced and the senior officers of Cornwall Council are recommending the sell off of the Trenant Council offices saying that it is now surplus to requirements. The office has been systematically wound up since January last year, a long time before Cornwall Council existed. The staff at the office have been left in limbo not knowing for over a year their destiny in the restructuring process.
I would like to be very clear about why we are where we are.
It has become increasingly apparent to myself and several of my colleagues that this process was started because the then Liberal Democrat controlled County Council where either unable or unwilling to show any kind of financial management or budgetary control. The only answer for their profligate spending was to destroy the District's ,take their assets and plug their black hole.
I feel increasing sorry for the staff and residents who rely on the services.
The thought of selling of assets at the bottom of a recession is frankly disastrous. However Cornwall Council face a black hole that even Steven Hawking would have a job to explain. The current deficit is 550 million pounds. That's debt that yours, and my family will be paying off for generations.
I don't have a Liberal Democrat money tree at the bottom of my garden. DO YOU??