LET’S scrutinise WDDC’s over-spend.

Now, if the council agrees on October 25, West Dorset residents will pay an electorally-unapproved additional £2m, primarily to demolish/rebuild a Dorchester community church, even though if Phase Two fails, it wouldn’t have been necessary.

As Coun Chisholm said, ‘It’s like paying £5 to go to a football match, and being tapped on the shoulder at half-time for another £5 for the second-half’.

WDDC’s scrutiny committee exists to examine such issues.

It need take only two to three months.

Yet the executive refused to countenance this for fear the developer and two anchor stores might walk away.

Really? Wouldn’t they – in building new stores – positively want to know the community had full facts and was behind the construction?

WDDC’s report says this about public consultation: “A public consultation exercise could be undertaken but in view of the fact that the scheme already has planning consent (including consultation on the proposals) and the need to maintain certainty for the developer and anchor tenants it is not considered to be appropriate at this stage.”

Consent is however only ‘outline’ and the plan has changed dramatically, eg, hotel, two-level car-park gone.

And ‘consultation with the public’ (KPMG will be interested) will amount to 10 days of displaying plans in Dorchester, plus a Saturday, ‘with staff on hand to deal with any concerns’.

This is arguably a defining moment for the next elections.

The threat that the developer and anchor stores would abandon the project if two to three months of scrutiny committee time was taken to properly inform the electorate will be remembered.

JOHN GRANTHAM Public Holds WDDC to Account