Plough Lane office deal falls through after Council wastes millions on renovations.

10.34.58pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 3rd Oct 2006

Bulmers Plough Lane offices in Hereford

The proposed purchase of the Plough Lane offices by Herefordshire Council has fallen through! The building's owners, Scottish and Newcastle, have decided to retain control of the site for their own future use. The Conservative/'Independent' administration has already poured up to £2 million of taxpayers' money into improvements to the building, this money having been spent before any agreement had been reached over the building's future.

With the collapse of negotiations, the already cash-strapped Council looks certain to have lost its investment, which included over £1 million spent on electrical and structural work, and over a quarter of a million pounds running underground cables from Rotherwas. In just over two years the Council lease runs out, leaving them open to being evicted.

Liberal Democrats, led by Cllr Terry James, have been fighting against the purchase of the Plough Lane for many months. In a statement yesterday, Cllr James was scathing in his criticism of the Tories' incompetence, "It has now come to light that those Cabinet members responsible for...moving staff and facilities to Bulmers' offices at Plough Lane had authorised hundreds of thousands of pounds of expenditure on the building without securing a medium term, let alone a long term lease."

"It is as if someone renting a house decided to put a new roof, kitchen and bathroom in the property at their own expense, only for the landlord to give them notice and occupy the building themselves"