At short notice a public meeting was held in Wadebridge this morning to give members of the public a chance to have a say on Cornwall Council’s plans to reduce the number of office buildings it uses, and in particular to discuss the proposed sale of Higher Trenant. This meeting wasn’t arranged by the Cabinet, who will have the final say on any proposals, instead it was called by John Keeling, Independent Chairman of the Corporate Resources Committee. This committee is going to make recommendations to the Cabinet on its approach to these issues, and the Chairman and membership clearly felt there was something to be gained by listening to the views of the local population. They should be applauded for that.

I’ve covered many of the arguments against the sale of Higher Trenant here before, so I won’t go down that road again, but what came up time and time again at today’s meeting was how flimsy the business case for a sale looks. The Council believe that the former NCDC offices could raise up to £10 million (in other words that would be at the top end of their expectations) whereas they estimate the cost of a replacement building in Bodmin to be £12.5 million. (The £10 million figure would appear to relate solely to the offer from Sainsbury’s.)

Those figures are enough to make you scratch your head, but what happens to those numbers if (as some would say is looking increasingly likely) Morrison’s pip Sainsbury’s to the post? Morrison’s have already stated publicly that, based on their market research, they would withdraw their plan if Sainsbury’s got the go-ahead before them, as they don’t feel there would be room for two new supermarkets. Presumably Sainsbury’s market research has given them a similar picture, and if they withdrew what would the Council do then about a property they seem desperate to declare surplus to requirements, but which would suddenly have no buyer?

In such a scenario (which is not wildly far-fetched) how much could they expect to recoup from the sale of a building that they would already have announced to the world that they didn’t want? You can insert your own figure here but you can be sure it won’t be anywhere near the £10 million that they’ve bandied about at today’s meeting, and it will be even further away from the £12.5 million (at least) that it will take to build a replacement in Bodmin.

It’s no wonder the public raised questions about the business planning and lack of basic mathematics behind this plan. The question now is will they get any answers?

Cornwall Council’s Cabinet will be considering ‘options’ for the former NCDC Higher Trenant site at Wadebridge on Monday 25th January, not Wednesday 13th as had been previously advertised. I’m told that the Cabinet are ‘relaxed’ about the potential disposal of the building and that the recommendation they will consider will be worded along the lines of “The Cabinet agrees to consider all options relating to the site and that it is declared surplus to the Council’s requirements”. The papers for this meeting are due to be published on 18th January and will be available to be viewed via this link.

In the course of discussions I have had with Cornwall Council officers on this topic the following points have been made clear:

The proposed sale of the site has absolutely no bearing on the Council’s budgetary considerations. It was clearly stated to me that this is a “stand-alone issue” which will be considered on its own merits (or hopefully, lack thereof). This therefore leaves the Cabinet in the happy position of having a clear choice on this issue - there is no gun being held to their heads.

A new building at Bodmin is being considered as a replacement. I’m told this new project will result in a modern, energy efficient building being constructed for the “rationalisation of staff accomodation” for those people working in the North Cornwall area. I don’t know how much this will cost but this new-build sounds not unlike the building the Council seem so keen to offload at Higher Trenant.

A full assessment into the possible impact on the local economy will be produced before any sale is agreed. I have asked for this twice and have received assurances on both occasions that this will be forthcoming. Such an assessment would need to consider not only the effects of relatively well-paid local government jobs being replaced by low-paid, mostly part-time supermarket jobs, but also the effects on the wider local economy of the sale of Higher Trenant to a huge national retail chain.

Many within Cornwall Council’s ruling Tory/Independent administration have tried to pin the blame for this situation on the previous County Council but it’s worth remembering that this sale was first presented to members of North Cornwall District Council with a recommendation for approval by their own officers. Thankfully councillors rejected that advice and turned down the offer from Sainsbury’s in January 2009. The new administration at County Hall has been in place for the majority of time since then and has had every opportunity to stop the drawing of staff away from Higher Trenant but instead seems happy to leave the running of things to the Council’s Chief Executive. It’s high time they showed some responsibility for their own choices and stopped behaving like an opposition.

Let’s hope they give this issue the consideration it deserves before making an irreversible decision to sell a major local asset during a recession.