Stop the council's bonkers B&B

Dear Cllr Grant Roberts,

As residents of Arundel & Walberton, we are writing to ask you to reconsider the high risk plan to invest almost half a million pounds in a luxury bed and breakfast in River Road.

Since 2017, the Conservative-run council has hiked up council tax by almost 20 per cent, and local taxpayers are likely to face further damaging rises this spring.

Yet Arun District Council is choosing this moment to spend £486,000 on this high-risk project, despite the availability of other options for this site.

As the TaxPayers’ Alliance argue, this is clearly an inappropriate use of money because:

1. Councils exist to provide important public services, not to make speculative investments
   
   
2. There is a real risk that this investment fails, given the highly seasonal nature of UK tourism and the luxury nature of the proposed property.
   
   
3. The figures used to justify the investment assume a 60 per cent occupancy at £500 a night, despite other bed and breakfasts only being occupied for 30 per cent of the year at £200 a night.
   
   
4. The £486,000 figure has been questioned by local builders, who have provided figures of £700,000 as a more realistic cost estimate.
   
   
5. The council has ignored a residents’ survey which showed unanimous opposition to the proposal.
   
   

I hope you will take these concerns seriously and, using your position on the Economy Committee, convince the council to think again.

Regards,

[NAMES]

Residents of Arundel and Walberton