Plans for Warrington Borough Council to purchase two huge retail properties in Greater Manchester have been branded as ‘reckless’ by Warrington South Conservative Parliamentary Candidate Andy Carter.
The purchase follows acquisitions of Birchwood Park, Eddie Stobart’s Offices in Appleton Thorn and a one third share in Redwood Bank, which take the total spent by the Labour controlled Borough Council to more than £1billion.
The most recent acquisition of a Tesco store in Bolton and an Asda store in Hulme have been kept under wraps by Councillors and expose the Council to increased risk in the retail sector which is undergoing massive change.
Prospective MP, Andy Carter says he’s worried at the advice being given to Councilors; “Only this week we have a respected set of Economists1 forecasting half of all retail sales will be online within the next decade, up from around a fifth currently. Up and down the country there are big empty retail units where chains have withdrawn, shut up shop and moved as the market has shifted onto the internet – and our Labour Councillors see these as sound investments? This is reckless spending with our money.”
Speaking on BBC One’s Sunday Politics this weekend, Andy also raised concerns about the Council’s recent £62million investment into a solar farm in Yorkshire “All of these schemes are using money which has been borrowed by the Council and whenever you borrow you have to pay the money back with interest”.
“Total borrowings are now above £1biliion, they constantly tell us they’re short of money, excessive borrowing and risky investments isn’t the solution. This £1billion debt ultimately falls onto the shoulders of Council Tax Payers if these investments fail. Warrington are one of the few Authorities borrowing to this extent, we need greater certainty that the Council’s debt fueled spending strategy will benefit the Borough for the long term rather than place a huge financial burden on us all”.
