West Oxfordshire District Council is on the brink of completing a comprehensive renovation of its council chamber, an ambitious project that comes with a nearly £500,000 price tag. The upcoming unveiling of the redesigned space is generating both anticipation and controversy.
However, the substantial cost of the project has sparked criticism from the Conservative opposition group, who have labelled the expenditure as a "huge waste of money" especially in the context of challenging financial times for the district council. The opposition group contends that such a significant allocation of funds could have been better utilised to address pressing community needs or to alleviate financial burdens on taxpayers.
Cllr Michele Mead, Leader of the Conservative Group said, "Council chambers play an essential role in the democratic process, but the question remains whether such a spend is justifiable in the current economic climate. The coalition have significantly depleted the councils reserves and are again going to hike up our council tax and green waste license. I'm not sure residents will be happy with the amount of money being spent on a council chamber refurbishment when there was nothing wrong with the previous one.”
A report which was signed off by the executive in June 2023 showed that the council refit based on the Quantity Surveyor assessment would be £242,350 to complete and then furniture would be an additional £131,210 and for mechanical and electrical adjustments the cost is expected to be £83,700.
The council is also spending £250,000 on upgrades to technology in the new council chamber and the committee rooms to improve the audio and visual for council meetings.
