End the pretence. Its not an affordable scheme. It’s over. Save Princes Parade.

For four years running, Tim Prater has moved an amendment at Folkestone and Hythe District Council to remove the Princes Parade Development scheme from the budget.

He did so again at the Folkestone and Hythe Budget meeting of 22 February, seconded by Green Group Leader Lesley Whybrow. 

No Conservative, Independent and UKIP Councillor backed the amendment, meaning the amendment fell 15-13 (one abstention).

In moving the amendment, Tim said:

I'm moving an amendment to the MTCP paper A/22/27 to be inserted as recommendation two. The amendment reads:

"The Princes Parade allocated budget of £42,616,000 be deleted and that a future capital programme considers the required budget for a leisure centre on an alternative site, probably at Martello Lakes."

As you’ll all know, I moved a similar amendment in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

In 2020 and 2021 I proposed it discussing the huge risk of the project, and that it would be massively more expensive. In 2021 I said:

“There is a wealth of evidence to suggest that Princes Parade development is going to be more risky and expensive than costed, and that it could blow a hole in this Council's long term financial position, while ALSO still being the wrong thing to do.”

Boom.

In 2022 it had become massively more expensive. and would leave the council £7m in debt.

And in 2023 we know the risk has paused the project. I’m available for bookings as a fortune teller. But like any fortune teller, you don’t have to see the future. This project was always high risk. It would take just a few things to make it impossible. And many things have happened. That was easy to foresee, and many of us did.

So why vote to delete this £42.6m figure from the capital budget tonight? Tonight, I offer you a different reason for doing so.

Because it’s not true.

It’s a fiction.

It’s made up.

And the council itself has told us so.

Section 4.2 of cabinet paper C/22/73 in December put the cost of the project then at £47-49m.

Cabinet paper C/22/73 in December put the total Capital borrowing requirement at £10.7m.

Cabinet looked at the options, and despite not taking the right option of cancelling the project altogether, put it on pause as it is not currently affordable within the budget.

We can’t do it for £42 million. It’s a fiction. That’s WHY the project is paused.

Putting £42 million in the future Capital budget to move this scheme along is no more realistic than including a fleet of unicorns on JCB’s.

Now, I understand the technical reasons why the S151 officer has included this in the budget, possibly better than most. She is trying to maintain the position that this is a viable and costed project and that it is proceeding with adequate budget.

But it isn’t.

Cabinet decision on C/22/73 tells us this scheme on the current costings is not viable.

Any accountant would tell us this scheme on the current costings is not viable.

Putting an insufficient figure into the Capital Budget is no defence against that.

So what this amendment would do is remove that fiction from the Capital programme. And it puts to a future Council, as we must now do, to make the decision in the future.

Given control in May, I’d scrap the project, take the option on the Martello Lake site and immediately start work on a scheme to get a new swimming pool there, at a significantly lower cost and a fraction of the risk. As we should have done 4 years ago.

Maybe a different Council will take a different decision, and commit the amount of Capital that would ACTUALLY be needed to deliver the scheme.

So, for the fourth time: please back this amendment.

Back it if you don’t want to see Princes Parade developed.

For environmental reasons. For historical reasons. For ecological reasons. For our open space. For our wildlife.

But also back it if you believe in realistic budgeting, open accounting, and being honest with residents about costs. Even those who actively back the development at Princes Parade can’t do it for the figure in that budget. Report C/22/73 tells us that.

Vote for this amendment.

End the pretence.

Its not an affordable scheme.

It’s over.

Save Princes Parade.

The video of the debate on the Medium Term Capital Programme, and the amendment to delete the funding for Princes Parade, is currently available on Folkestone & Hythe District Council's website.