Yesterday I posted about the deal to hand over the Guildhall (valued at around £2m) to Abingdon Town Council for the sum of £1, and to give a further cash sum of £1.2m. The Lib Dem dominated Council voted last night to push through the deal, however their majority was reduced from 15 to 9. Below is my speech to Council last night. It is a rather truncated argument due to the time restrictions on speeches, but summaries my concerns about the deal. I wish Abingdon Town Council all the best in running the facility which I hope will remain open for the whole of the Vale. Yet the information provided last night was not enough to overcome my concerns that the future of the Guildhall has still not been secured, and the cost to the taxpayer has been a high one. "I happen to agree with Cllr Webber over matters of prejudicial interests, and I too hope that the Localism Bill will go some way to addressing the problem. However, if Cllr Webber feels so strongly that members outside Abingdon should not vote on this matter, he can abstain, that option is always open to him. The story of the Guildhall, is one of failures and mistakes. For many years the Vale has dithered about making the changes and improvements that were needed to make the facility viable. Instead we have plodded on, with no serious plan, until the burden of the costs has led the Executive to drop it like a hot potato. The Executive Member for Leisure and Property said himself last night that running the Guildhall had “never been a big priority” for the Vale. Tonight we are asked to hand over an asset valued at somewhere just over or just under two million pounds (£2m), depending which valuation you take, and along with it a cash sum of one point two million pounds (£1.2m) as a dowry. My objections are two-fold, financial and social. On the finances, we are giving away one point two million pounds (£1.2m) for capital works a schedule of which has not been provided to the Council, a sum which will not be recovered by this council until 2023. We are giving up a unknown share of the asset value. We will however retain for three years some of the liabilities of maintenance on the building. So what are we getting in return for a sum equivalent to a nearly a quarter of this year’s council tax demand? Merely an assurance by the Town Council that they will continue to run it as a community venue. Now I would not for one moment doubt the best intentions of Abingdon Town Council, only their ability to turn this building around. The Executive are telling us that the reason for doing this deal is, and I quote “to secure the continued provision of a community venue”, yet they seem to have taken no interest in guaranteeing that. Details of the deal, which are essential to any fair and responsible judgement on the matter, were not included in the confidential report to the Executive, answers were not available to the Scrutiny Committee, and many remain unanswered, with no papers being presented to this meeting. We are told that the questions we raise are totally fair, but the portfolio holder does not have the answers now. This suggests that the Executive itself did not ask them when considering their decision. We have been presented with scare stories tonight, that if we do not agree this matter tonight then the council will be unable to send out council tax bills, or the Guildhall itself will have to close. Once again I blame the Executive. Why has the Leader allowed the timing of the budget meetings to be changed to make the reserve date unviable? Why have the other options not be properly explored. If this Council is to remain sovereign in matters affecting the Vale of White Horse it must have the freedom to make its own decision – even the difficult ones. Yes, to reject this proposal tonight will take some courage. There is indeed a lot at stake. There is for example more than a million pounds of taxpayers money. Money paid by the people who elect us, to make the right decisions on their behalf, not just the easy decisions. The Vale’s Scrutiny committee has recommended that the Council rejects the Executive’s proposal on the basis of both its financial and social shortcomings. Many people I speak to in Abingdon think this is the wrong decision. I implore all members of the Council, particularly those representing Abingdon, let us put the party politics aside, use your own judgement, will this really make the Guildhall any more successful? will this represent Vale for money, when the cost of running the venue could rise from £2 per household to nearly £16 per household? Will the people we serve benefit from the deal? I argue not. Please vote against the Executive’s proposal, there is still time to find an alternative."