Plans to pause or cancel £75m Western Way project in Bury St Edmunds branded 'shortsighted'
Plans to ‘pause and re-think’ the Western Way Development - which would include a new leisure centre and health facilities - were announced last week
Last updated 13th Sep 2023
An MP and West Suffolk Conservative leader have both hit back at controversial plans to cancel a multi-million project in Bury St Edmunds.
The plans to ‘pause and re-think’ the Western Way Development were announced last Friday and quickly garnered criticism from the opposing Conservative party.
However, since the release, the language has changed from pausing the development to cancelling it altogether and giving way to new proposals, according to a cabinet report.
Cllr Cliff Waterman, West Suffolk Council leader, said the new plans would ‘bring the leisure centre up to scratch within existing budgets, to extend its life and continue to provide leisure services and better health outcomes for residents’.
The proposals to shelve the project are due to the ongoing financial pressures and uncertainties local councils face across the country.
Cllr Waterman added: “Crucially, we believe this is the safest and quickest way we can guarantee the future of the leisure centre in these challenging times of inflation and soaring costs and reduced government funding.”
However, the Conservatives have been vocal about their disappointment — Jo Churchill, the MP for Bury St Edmunds is one of them.
She said: “The decision to shelve this project is undeniably short-sighted, and it regrettably strips our residents of the opportunities and choices that the Western Way Hub would have provided.
“The Western Way Hub development was designed to serve as a cornerstone of progress, offering our residents enhanced access to essential services and fostering a sense of community well-being.
“We owe it to our community to ensure that we continue to invest in projects that enhance our town’s growth and well-being.”
Ms Churchill was not the only one, however.
On Saturday, Cllr Nick Clarke, the leader of the Conservative Group in West Suffolk, wrote an open letter to Cllr Waterman expressing his disapproval.
In the letter, he referred to the Cllr Waterman’s decision to make his intentions known to the press before debating it with the cabinet or full council as ” riding roughshod over our democratic processes”.
Cllr Clarke also mentioned the Western Way project had been “subject to rigorous checks for affordability and functionality” which were both “cautious and prudent”.
He added: “I fail to understand why you wish to cancel the project. At a stroke, you Cllr Waterman have killed the concept of community hubs in West Suffolk.
“You are signalling that we are now a backwards-looking council with a complete lack of ambition who can’t keep their side of a deal.
“I fear your lack of leadership, ambition and confidence will leave you on the wrong side of history on this one. I ask you to reconsider your decision.”
The Labour group’s dislike of the project had been known since last year when, in February, Cllr Waterman and Cllr Diane Hind, then leader of the group, referred to it as ‘grandiose’ and ‘vanity’ respectively.
In the letter, Cllr Clarke also alluded to how much a refurbishment of the existing leisure centre would cost, not only for the work being done but also resulting from aborting the project altogether.
In December last year, a document published by the former administration estimated the initial capital cost at £13m for minimum refurbishment and £24.8m for major works, both of which would cost £72m and £83.8 respectively over 40 years.
In contrast, the investment in a new leisure centre as part of the Western Way project would cost an initial £39.7m but a total of £50.4m over 40 years.
However, Cllr Waterman indicated that the £13m required for ‘minimum refurbishment’ would still be too expensive for the council’s current challenges.
Instead, the scheme Labour is proposing would be ‘different and much simpler’ and ‘not involve some of the more expensive additional works that had been previously suggested’, focusing only on essential maintenance.
Cllr Waterman added: “We are making decisions on a complex multi-million project now and not in the past to ensure we reduce the risk for the taxpayer and provide certainty in the teeth of one of the most challenging financial storms facing communities and public services.
“There are abortive costs in stopping, but with the present uncertainties the risks of carrying on could be greater.”
However, there have not been any indications of how much Labour’s plan would cost.
Ms Churchill communicated her hopes that the Labour group would reconsider the plans to shelve the project.
“I remain hopeful that the Labour Coalition will see the error of their ways and join us in supporting the Western Way Hub development,” she said, “Bury St Edmunds and the surrounding villages, deserve ambition, not slashing of services.”
Cllr Waterman and his cabinet will reconvene next Tuesday to discuss the plans at length.
However, Cllr Clarke maintains the available documents as of writing are ‘rushed and amateurish’.