Public consultation - Regarding option to sell flat above Bishampton Stores

Thank you to all who attended the Public meeting on the 26th, for your questions and expressing your views and opinions. Again apologies for the IT failure which prevented the display of the overheads (thank you also to Tim Cole and Mark Platts for their valiant attempts to sort the problem).

The purpose of the meeting was to outline the cases for sale or retention of the flat and seek to understand the views of the community allowing for a vote to hear the wishes of the community.

The parish council attempted to highlight the key aspects of both options to facilitate the discussion as reflected in the leaflet distributed ahead of the meeting. 

Since then there has been criticism concerning the lack of detailed financial impacts which we had attempted to distil to an simple number reflecting the significant impact of early repayment of the loans on the outgoings over the remaining life of the loans. 

The views expressed at the meeting and indicated by the results below show that whether the saving on outgoings is the £142k plus maintenance or nearer the £180k from the income expense projection - the community favour the retention of the flat as an asset and also that they felt the decision was not just a financial one.

We believe that the consultation and bringing the option to the community was the appropriate approach on an issue of this importance.