The minutes of a private briefing session for senior Labour Councillors (James Alexander and Tracey Simpson Laing) confirm that they knew in April 2013 that the Care Village project at Lowfields was doomed.
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Cllr Simpson Laing told officers that the Lowfields site could sell (for housing) for more than valuers had estimated.
Cllr Alexander’s solution was to borrow more but the note says
“borrowing ££ from Economic Infrastructure Fund/new homes bonus (?) to plug gaps – I struggled to follow and got lost!”
Councillors seemed keen to deflect criticism onto the Joseph Rowntree Foundation for the projects escalating costs.
The information has come to light via the Council’s new “open data” web site.
A large amount of information has been published there in response to Freedom of Information requests on the failed £1 million project.
All the background documents can be found by clicking here
