17th April 2018 By Graham Smith Cornwall Council this afternoon voted 69-41, with seven abstentions, to give £3 million to the Truro stadium project. The decision was greeted by loud…
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Having read the comments above, I would say that our Cornwall Councillors are not up to the job. My son, an avid rugby fan, admitted that the reason he wanted the stadium in Cornwall was for sentimental and emotional reasons – he loves Cornwall and he loves rugby. He also admitted that the arguments to spend £3 million pounds of OUR MONEY were based on sentiment and speculation. Any business man would walk away from this venture. It has not been subject to due diligence or any scrutiny. It is a ‘Saturday night down the pub’ decision! If our Councillors can be swayed by attractive and persuasive young athletes to part with £3 million pounds of resident’s money, they should resign immediately. They have not acted like responsible adults today.
Unfortunately the money in the pot used for the stadium cannot be spent on the services that have been so savagely cut. There is a distinction between capital and revenue spending which is tightly regulated. All councils have an officer with the power to overrule councillors if they break the law.
I cannot understand why councillors voted to spend £3 million in the absence of a convincing business case that wasn’t full of holes.
The quality of the debate was one sided. In general pro stadium speeches were better. Only councillors Farrington and Kirkham effectively challenged the case for the stadium. In the end I think one voted for the stadium and the other abstained. None of the 49 councillors who voted against made any kind of decent argument. The councillor for the area, where the stadium will be, was embarrassingly awful. He utterly failed to highlight the lack of environmental and highways infrastructure that will blight the lives of his residents.
Having watched the debate the decision was hearts over heads. I think the stadium will be a white elephant and the council will rue the day.
Is this a Stadium for Cornwall or a Stadium for Truro and do I get a sense of political game playing? In the east of the county, we are closer to Sandy Park in Exeter. Exeter or Truro? We are still the neglected quarter.
I would be interested to know the names of the Councillors that had “been persuaded that £3 million pounds was not a large sum of money” and “that it could not be spent on Council services anyway”. They should never be Councillors and therefore custodians of our money with this attitude. How many other “pots” of money are there that cannot be spent on Council services and what can they be spent on? Unbelievable.