A FORMER Independent ward councillor has condemned a Yes Minister culture among senior officers as the council took on an ever greater debt burden.

John Bond, who flagged the risks associated with Woking Borough Council’s town centre redevelopment as long ago as 2016, was an Independent councillor for seven years until deciding not to stand in 2021. 

He did stand again, unsuccessfully, as a Green Party councillor for the Pyrford ward in this year’s local elections.

However, his worries have been spectacularly borne out with the council having to issue a Section 114 notice this month, effectively an admission of bankruptcy.

“I remember being amazed and angry with the councillors, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, who repeatedly voted for the massive and unsafe expenditure in the centre of Woking,” Mr Bond said. “It was ultimately their responsibility and there were clearly many uncertainties.

“Despite this, I found that my biggest issue was with the senior officers at Woking, chief, legal and finance, who gave constant assurances to councillors that all would be well.

“I felt they failed to advise properly, failed to get relevant external expertise, and often blocked questions, criticisms and information.

“It often seemed as though the officers were in charge rather than the elected councillors – I was frequently reminded of Yes Minister.”

Mr Bond has expressed doubts about the latest town centre redevelopment since its early days. 

“When the plans for Woking town centre were first proposed, I discovered serious financial concerns about the company, Moyallen Holdings, that Woking was using to undertake the development,” he said. 

“There are minutes from a council meeting in 2016 when the price had risen to £460million.  Only the Independents and two other councillors voted against the plans – all but one of the Lib Dems were very much in favour.”

As Mr Bond has noted: “Victoria Square Woking Limited (VSWL) was asking for a £460m loan from Woking council. To provide the £460m loan to VSWL, it is necessary to commit almost £1billion of taxpayers’ money for the loan plus interest. VSWL clearly needs to be highly successful to repay this loan.”

In his efforts for more information on the project’s finances to be brought forward, Mr Bond has at various times lodged complaints against former council chief executive Ray Morgan, and past council leaders David Bittleston and John Kingsbury. All three complaints were dismissed.

The Guardian last week reported the council was planning to sever ties with Moyallen, which was confirmed by Cllr Ann-Marie Barker, the Lib Dem leader of Woking council.

“The intention, always, with the relationship with Moyallen was that it was there for the development period [at Victoria Square], and that the relationship would come to a natural end at some point,” Cllr Barker told the newspaper. “That is something we would anticipate happening.”

Expanding on the financial processes behind Victoria Square, Cllr Barker told the News & Mail: “Woking council funded Victoria Square by borrowing from the PWLB [Public Works Loan Board, a government body]. 

“Moyallen were brought in as development partner. Victoria Square Woking Ltd was set up for the project with Moyallen having a 52 per cent share and WBC 48 per cent.The intention has always been that once development was completed, the partnership would end. 

“The process on this is now beginning and I can’t say any more about it at this time. Moyallen did not put any money into the project and do not have a monetary interest.”

For Mr Bond, a final thought: “I consider Woking’s rules on confidentiality to be too restrictive and undemocratic – this problem might have been prevented if concerned residents were allowed to know what was really happening.”