BCP Council should 'absolutely not' buy Barclays House

In June, BCP Council was given an exclusivity period by Barclays to explore a potential purchase of the estate. 

A bid of £17million was submitted by the council to purchase Barclays House – more than £10million higher than property developer Richard Carr's bid for the site. 

Meanwhile a recent report by chief finance officer Adam Richens said no new financial commitments should be made until the local authority can deliver a balanced budget for next year. 

Barclays House in Poole (Image: NQ)

Read more: BCP Council is looking to buy Barclays House in Poole

Liberal Democrat councillor Mike Cox said the council should “absolutely not” continue to pursue Barclays House, adding: “It was always a complete waste of money and to spend on this vanity project, the Council has got far bigger issues to deal with. 

“It should immediately pull out and stop all further necessary expenditure, which was the recommendation anyway of the of the recent finance report.” 

Christchurch Independents coucillor Lesley Dedman said residents have been led down a path which “nobody wants to go” and that BCP's leadership should drop its plans.

Cllr Lesley Dedman

Read more: What is happening with BCP Council budget after failed beach huts

She added: “It has cost goodness knows how much to get even halfway down the due diligence period.  

“They've spent money which we now know we haven’t got on trying to buy something which we clearly do not want. 

“Even to spend the money on due diligence strikes me as another example of the of the leaders wasting money. 

“The leadership has been atrocious from day one. They've led us into terrible messes and losses. 

“I was absolutely horrified when I saw the Barclays House news, because it’s clearly a building that has outlived its usefulness.” 

Cllr Stephen Bartlett

Cllr Steve Bartlett also echoed calls for the council to abandon its plans, saying he is "very nervous" about the financial status of BCP right now.

Cllr Bartlett added: "The council needs to stop on excessive spending. We need to sit back and sort it out."

Poole Independents’ Cllr Andy Hadley also believes the council should now drop looking into purchasing Barclays House, adding: “I’ve never seen a good reason for us to buy Barclays House. We need to concentrate on supplying core services for residents and not these grand schemes. 

“It never came to the council with a rationale as to why they want to buy Barclays House.”  

Another of the council’s major plan, the “dodgy deal” to sell off beach huts to fund £50million worth of transformation, was halted in an intervention by the government earlier this month.