AN OPPOSITION councillor has called on the council to take urgent action following news that Peach Place builders Dawnus had gone into administration, placing doubt on the finishing date for the overdue project.
Work on the site had been due to be finished last November, with shops opening in the first part of 2019. However, construction works are still ongoing and the townhouses and keyworker apartments are not yet completed.
Yesterday morning the council sought to issue reassurances to the public that that work on Peach Place will continue and that they are now implementing a back-up plan to take control of the site.
But this hasn’t been enough for some councillors, saying that the ruling Conservative group have bathed in secrecy the controversial regeneration projects.
Labour’s group leader, Cllr Andy Croy, said: “I have called on the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee to convene an emergency meeting to examine this issue.
“There has been a culture of secrecy and obfuscation surrounding many aspects of the regeneration but at the end of the day it will be residents who pick up the tab and it is residents who are demanding yet more answers.
“It is vital that the Council’s scrutiny committees do their job and dig into this to demonstrate that risks to the council have been properly mitigated.”
Conservative councillors have been approached for a comment; a story giving the Liberal Democrats view is in preparation.
