The Lib Dem policy of either closing amenities and services or selling them off continues.

Bournemouth's Lib Dem Council have told the residents of the town that they are having all car parks valued so that they can decide which ones to sell, once they have totted-up how much money they need to raise to fund their various projects around the town.

The Conservatives are very concerned that all is not as it seems and that decisions are being made behind closed doors by the administration without the knowledge of all Councillors until it is too late.

The Southbourne crossroads car park is a good example. The Lib Dems insist that no decision has been made about its future but the 'For Sale' board on the site tells a different story. Apparently this car park has also been advertised in the press with 'development potential' and no doubt offered directly to developers through the Council's own property advisors. Everybody knows that you only go through this exercise if you are planning to sell, safe in the knowledge that a development premium is always going to add a bonus to its value as a car park. It will then be argued that it would give the Council a better return to sell the car park, especially as it is away from the town centre, and that this should override existing Council policies - just as the Lib Dems have done with the sale of the Terrace Mount car park and at Honeycombe Chine where totally inadequate replacement parking is being provided.

The truth is that the sales exercise is at an advanced stage despite what the Lib Dems have told residents about looking at the options. The car park can only be sold once and the asset and income will be lost for ever. As for the replacement of this local amenity and its impact on leisure and tourism there can be little doubt that this has not been considered at all - if it had been there would be an alternative on offer and proper consultation with local residents would have taken place. The message from Lib Dem Cllr Adrian Fudge to Bournemouth residents is deliberately confusing as he attempts to make the sale of car parks inevitable. The decision has already been made to sell more of Bournemouth's family silver and residents can be certain that the 'independent' advice will be tailored to support the decision.

It is deceptive and misleading for the Lib Dem administration to say that they are testing the market to find out the value of the car park. As Southbourne Conservative Cllr Basil Ratcliffe has said, 'If only the value is required at this stage, the normal procedure is to engage a valuer who will carry out the necessary research and report back with a realistic figure. A decision can then be made whether to market the asset or not.' He added, 'One cannot help but wonder what prospective purchasers will make of the conflicting statements coming out of the Town Hall. They must wonder whether the Council knows what it is doing!'

Let what is happening to the Southbourne Crossroads car park be a warning to all residents in other parts of Bournemouth - this Lib Dem Council wants to sell as many car parks as it can get away with.
It will sell as many other low profile assets that it thinks the public will not worry about or it can attempt to justify in the short-term to finance the Winter Gardens and other high profile attention grabbing facilities. The longer-term damage to the transport infrastructure of our town will be immense and permanent. The Lib Dem Council can do almost anything it likes for the next 2 years or so - radical things it never made mention of in its election manifesto last year - but that does not make these decisions sensible in the short-term or right for Bournemouth in the long-term.

For further details please contact:-

Cllr John Beesley
Bournemouth Conservatives
on Bournemouth Council

Tel. 01202 762403
Mobile 07860 391219
email john.beesley@bournemouth.gov.uk