AN opposition councillor has called for a senior council officer to “go quietly” following his apology for part of the Boscombe surf reef and spa development overspend.
Head of leisure services Roger Brown has admitted that officers tried to save money and “perhaps cut some corners” by failing to carry out a structural survey on the dilapidated Overstrand building.
When work began the building was in such a poor state another £648,000 was needed to get it into shape.
Mr Brown’s apology came at a special scrutiny panel meeting earlier this week when members reluctantly backed spending another £1.8 million on the ill-fated project. Cllr Anne Rey, who attended the meeting, said: “The buck stops with Roger Brown. He has apologised publicly but should carry the can and go quietly.
“I can’t believe a survey wasn’t carried out on the Overstrand building; someone buying an old house would get a full survey done. It’s not rocket science.
“Roger Brown is an experienced officer and, at the end of the day, he wasn’t spending his own money. It was taxpayers’ money that was being wasted.
“The project was very, very badly managed and we have to consider public perception of what has been going on; we can’t carry on like this.”
Cllr Ron Whittaker, who also heard Mr Brown’s apology, said: “One or two officers should look at their position regarding this contract. I’m not happy with the apology; it does not go far enough but calling for senior officers to go won’t actually help us.
“The important thing is to ensure that the overspend isn’t wasted and this mismanaged project gets finished as soon as possible. The last thing we want to see, after all this time, is it failing.”
