David Kendall agrees to join town hall delivery group

Brentwood's Lib Dem Leader Cllr David Kendall has agreed to join a cross party Town Hall Delivery Group to work on trying to achieve what was agreed at the recent meeting to save the Town Hall (5/7/11).

His decision follows a call made by the Liberal Democrat group last week for the Council to hold an emergency meeting to discuss a number of issues regarding the Town Hall. His call for the emergency meeting led to discussions with the Mayor Cllr Joan Holmes and the Council's Managing Director Alison Crowe to talk about the best way of moving things forward. During those discussions he was given assurances that he would be given answers to all the questions he had raised by the end of the week. He was also told by the Mayor that If an emergency meeting was then still required she would be prepared to call one. The key questions from the Lib Dem group were as follows:

1) Who is going to Chair the Town Hall Delivery Group?
2) What are the terms of reference for the group and which members are going to sit on it?
3) Is there going to be a Town Hall Steering Group and a Town Hall Delivery Group?
4) How much money has been spent on the Town Hall project to date?

Cllr Kendall has now been give clarification on all these points and the others he raised and following discussions with the members of his own Liberal Democrat group says an emergency meeting will no longer be necessary.

Speaking about his decision Cllr Kendall said "I am delighted that our call for an emergency meeting has kick started the administration into clarifying a number of important points on the Town Hall. Our questioning has revealed amongst other things that the administration has already spent just over £175,000 on the Town Hall project to date which is a major concern to us and I'm sure many Brentwood residents. Now we have the answers and clarification on all the points we raised there is no longer a need for an emergency meeting at this moment in time. I now look forward to working with the other members of the Delivery group on trying to deliver what was agreed at the meeting to save the Town Hall".

Cllr David Kendall
Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group
Brentwood Borough Council
County Councillor - Brentwood South Division
Mobile: 07768 667824