Proposals to develop the waste transfer facility at the Lyme Green depot site were approved by the councils cabinet in March 2011, as the council felt a transfer facility was needed in the north of the borough in order to facilitate planned changes to its waste collection services.
However, the project was stopped prematurely during site preparation and the planning application was later withdrawn in February 2012 following public complaints about the lack of consultation.
Although building work on the facility itself had not started, this left the council incurring more than 700,000 in costs for the likes of excavation, drainage and foundations.
The council commissioned a Designated Independent Person (DIP) to investigate and report on the matter and yesterday (June 17) published a 26-page summary of this report online, which provides a damning assessment of the councils work on the project.
The report explains that only one tender for the work was received from Henshaws Waste Management but senior council officers decided against awarding a three-year contract to Henshaws in the hope of finding a solution that provided better value for money.
Henshaws was instead awarded a shorter, interim contract so that the council could undergo a more competitive tendering process for a longer-term contract. This led to officers ignoring the budget and sticking to unrealistic timetabling for work completion, the report found.
According to the report: The ensuing lack of proper project management and failure to meet normal consultation requirements, the unsatisfactory promotion of a planning application, and a lack of proper care at various stages in the process, flowed from that one key decision.
‘The experience has been a painful one, but much of lasting value has been learned as a result, though it is accepted by the council that local people in Cheshire East will be the best judges, in future, of whether this is the case
Cheshire East council
The report also highlights a lack of due professional diligence and care among council officers managing the project, as well as a culture of mutual mistrust between some officers and councillors.
Furthermore, the DIP found that the public was not properly consulted at several stages of the development.
The report states: In addition, the consultation requirements with the public was woefully inadequate The councils standards as to openness and trust with the public as to consultation were not met.
Changes
The council said a number of management changes have been made since the failure of the Lyme Green project and that all senior officers criticised by the DIP for their part in the matter are no longer employed by the council.
However, it added that the mismanagement and consequent failure of this relatively small project will continue to unfairly taint the more significant achievements and successes of the Council for some time to come.
The council said: The experience has been a painful one, but much of lasting value has been learned as a result, though it is accepted by the council that local people in Cheshire East will be the best judges, in future, of whether this is the case.
Financial impact
However, the financial impact of the sudden cessation of the Lyme Green project has been overstated and is not properly understood’, according to the council.
Although it incurred costs of more than 700,000, the council claims that much of this money was spent on preparing the site for development and the net costs to the council are in fact closer to 100,000.
This is because the council has reached an in-principle agreement with a local independent retailer to provide a warehouse facility on the Lyme Green depot site, which it says will help retain jobs in the Macclesfield area and encourage growth.
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Leader of Cheshire east council, Michael Jones, said: Despite its unwelcome impact on the councils reputation, this painful experience has left a positive legacy. It has helped us to develop the Lyme Green site to support local business and job growth, as well as visibly improving our project management and procurement activities. On top of this, it has pushed us to make much needed major changes in management roles, service structures, working practices, and organisational culture in the council.
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