I AM astonished to read Cllr Morris’s comments to members that the whole episode of developing, submitting and defending the now defunct proposal to cut through the town hall façade has cost the ratepayer nothing.

He goes on to explain that this was ‘built-in’ to the contract with the developers. Does that mean that the developers have charged nothing, and that their architects have done all of this ‘for free’? Does it mean that the planning department has not incurred time and expense at the ratepayers’ indulgence in preparing and collating the planning application?

I would hardly think so. Indeed there has been a cost – of course there has been a cost! Not only has the cost been borne by the ratepayer through the offices of the council’s consultants and its own staff, but also the time, expense and loss of good will by the whole townsfolk, all of the bodies defending the town against the proposal, not least of all the Bolton and District Civic Trust.

It would be useful if the budget set for the consultancy and the proportion spent on this particular episode be revealed to the people of Bolton. The damage this episode has done to the Council’s standing before its citizens, the method of project governance, the lack of any true prior public engagement that led to this, the sheer waste of effort and insensitive handling, do seem breath-taking and suggest some arrogance.

What is needed from the Council is a readiness to proactively engage with specialist interest groups, including the Bolton & District Civic Trust who, time will judge, truly performed its ‘critical friend’ role in all this. Also missing has been engagement with any town centre independent traders’ group, which does not seem to exist, but it is in the interest of the town centre vitality that the Council should try to foster such a group. Learning lessons always costs something.

Mark Head

Egerton