Dithering and secrecy over the football hub

12.00.00am GMT Fri 1st Jan 2010

Canterbury City Council's controversial plans to build a £5m football hub at Ridlands Farm off South Canterbury Road have still not been made public. Originally these were to have been out for public consultation in the autumn.

Lib Dem Cllr Nick Eden-Green says 'I can now reveal that the consultants' report was received by the Council in September although the council refuse to tell me exactly when. I also know that this report cost about £67,000 but again the Council won't confirm this. I have repeatedly asked to meet the consultants but this was denied. I have also asked to see the report but this has also been denied despite the fact that it has been lying around in the Council offices for 4 months.

Furthermore I can reveal that the report concludes that the most appropriate site is Ridlands Farm. This was the only site suggested by the Council. I am told that the consultants have considered other sites but they have not visited a single one of them.'

Cllr Eden-Green continued, 'So what we have is a report that remains secret for months, that has cost £000's and then merely reaches conclusions that the council requested. The consultants have not spoken to a single local resident or a single local councillor; in other words they have consulted nobody. Meanwhile the University of Kent have opened a new £2.7m facility open to the public made possible by the support of - guess what - the Football Foundation.

Just how many expensive football facilities do we need when we cannot keep the loos and the museums open? The money spent on consultants who have consulted nobody is a total waste and should have been used for something useful like keeping recycling sacks free or the Westgate Hall open.'