NPAIC Group statement regarding proposed sale of assets
The said: ” ONCE again it appears Thurrock residents are getting the sharp end of a feckless and ill-conceived plan that robs local residents of assets today – and repeats the sin in future years when income from properties formerly owned by the council will no longer be available to whatever authority runs the borough.
At tomorrow’s cabinet its members will be asked to approve a new lease for the Tilbury Business Centre which it owns and maintains. The paper put before them extols the benefits of owning a viable asset in years going forward, saying: “the lease will protect income for the Council”.
It will generate £298,362 in the next two years.
Yet at the same cabinet meeting members are being asked to approve the selling of the South Essex College site in Grays. Granted, it does not have the earning power of the Business centre, only bringing in £4.5K a year – but there are no outgoings.
However, selling it will bring in a big chunk of money today, which will be thrown into the pit of interest repayments caused by the council’s “Unconscious incompetence” – the term used by government-appointed inspectors to describe the state of Thurrock Council. And in a couple of years the money it generates, however small, won’t be there to supplement local needs. Even £4,500 a year could be put to good use for the people of Grays.
But it isn’t just about money.
Alongside the sale of the college site, the council wants to sell off four small sites currently used as recreational open space by neighbouring residents.
It’s difficult to imagine who might want to buy them other than someone wanting to build on them – or in the case of Coronation Avenue turn it into an access for planned residential development. Whatever the outcome, for limited monetary gain today (more chucked into the pit), residents could lose the small green lung that adds to the quality of life in their neighbourhood.
The Non-Political Alliance of Independent Councillors simply asks what real and tangible benefits do the people of Thurrock get from this selling of the ‘family silver’ – endorsed and supported by the Labour administration that runs the council.
The Labour Party exists, set out in its own constitution, to give ordinary people a voice and improve lives.
How does the selling off of Thurrock people’s assets without a mandate – and delegating decision-making on those sales to unelected officers – meet those provisions?
The people of Thurrock have little or no say now in how this borough is run. Not does it have the mechanism to stop the theft of our assets. That lies with the Labour cabinet and leader Lynn Worrall, who was among the most vocal of critics of the Conservatives when the financial scandal unfolded. They were elected on a local manifesto to protect the people and assets of Thurrock. It now seems they are selling both down the river of convenience.
