A £25,000 pot of community money has been earmarked to go towards new Alsager Town Council offices.
Coun Wendy Whittaker-Large told an Assets and Services Committee meeting that she felt “uncomfortable” with the decision, as the money could have been spent on work in the community.
The plan, which the council estimates will cost up to £325,600, will see an extension added to the Civic and include new offices for council employees, a reception area, solar panels and repairs to the roof of the building.
It will ultimately save the town council the money it currently spends on leasing offices in the Cheshire East-owned building next door at 3, Lawton Road.
During last Tuesday’s meeting, members agreed to pull together £100,000 in earmarked reserves, £23,500 saved from an increase in the precept, £15,000 in capital reserves, £12,000 in savings from the town council’s lease agreement with Cheshire East, £26,500 saved for decarbonisation of the Civic and £25,000 in Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) to pay for the project.
After agreeing to the proposal, Coun Whittaker-Large said she had concerns about paying for the build with CIL money – funds given to the council by developers to pay for the impact of building, earmarked for community assets and services.
She said: “CIL monies are as a result of housing developments, and this income that we have is for the town council to spend within the community.
“I realise that this is a community building and that the extension will be adding to that, and I think the project is great and it makes sense to do it, but I am uncomfortable using CIL money.
“We have to appreciate that getting CIL and section 106 monies is incredibly difficult and this does have a flavour to it that I’m not sure the public would be very comfortable with.”
She pointed out the number of residents who had attended a planning committee meeting earlier in the evening to raise their concerns about possible future building sites in Alsager.
“CIL money is there to soften the blow of those new houses,” she said.
“I’m not sure it looks right us putting that towards our own building.”
Coun Jane Hearne, who chaired the meeting, said the council was running out of time to spend the money, which had to be returned to the developer if it was not spent within a given timeframe.
“We are at the stage now where if we don’t use it, we will lose it,” she said.
“We have reached out to the public asking what it wanted as a priority, and we’ve taken that on board.
“This is for the community, and it also means we hopefully won’t need to increase the precept next year.”
As previously reported, tree planting, speed awareness and play areas were the three main priorities identified from a public consultation launched by the town council in February last year on how to use a £33,000 pot of CIL funds, with a deadline for spending before the end of March 2027.
Coun Pauline Hubbard said using the money would be a “sound investment”, as it would save the council from needing to borrow more to pay for the project.
Coun Derek Longhurst agreed: “It’s not as though this is just for Alsager Town Council. It is to make the council more community facing, so the community will benefit ultimately from this, and it is necessary to make long-term savings.”
The decision on whether to use the funds will be discussed at a future meeting of the full town council.
