The Liberal Democrat–led Waverley Borough Council Executive is seeking a further £610,248 for emergency repairs to the Grade I listed building’s decayed roof timbers.
But Waverley Conservatives accused the administration of losing control of spending on key council projects.
The Liberal Democrats, however, have hit back, saying the problems stem from years of “grotesque underspend” on building maintenance under the previous Conservative-led council.
In a press statement, Farnham Conservative Cllr Carole Cockburn said: “The costs for Wilmer House have rocketed even further, bringing the total taxpayer contribution to an astonishing £1,405,690 – and counting.
“Residents are rightly asking how such poor oversight has been allowed to continue.
“We further question why a comprehensive structural survey was not commissioned at the outset, a step that could have ensured Waverley taxpayers went into this project with open eyes.”
Conservative group leader Cllr Jane Austin added: “This is yet another example of the Executive’s inability to deliver projects within budget or demonstrate financial discipline.
“Alongside yet more projected huge cost increases and lengthy delays from another money pit – the leader’s vanity project at 69 High Street, Godalming – it’s clear that the Executive has lost control of public spending.”
At Monday night’s meeting (October 14), the Executive defended its management of the project and blamed the previous Conservative administration for the problem.
Cllr Kika Mirylees, Waverley’s portfolio holder for community Services, leisure and EDI (Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, said: “It must be recognised that the building over the last 20 years has had very little spent on it, which for a 300-plus-year-old house has left this administration with a huge financial responsibility – and to our credit we are not ignoring it.”
She said under the previous administration the annual maintenance spend on Willmer House was only £6,827 a year over two decades.
“The lack of preventative maintenance, so necessary when you own a historic building, has left us footing this onerous bill, and we will seek to find outside funding to help us renovate it,” she said.
“We’re not in a position to delay the works. Minimal delay is the most economic delay while the brickwork activity has to halt during the winter months.”
She said workshops had been successful in exploring how to rebrand the museum as a Museum of Craft, the only one of its kind in the UK, with a commercial approach to using its full estate.
Council leader Cllr Paul Follows said the situation highlighted how long-term neglect had created expensive problems for the council.
“Every time we get a building like this, the amount of maintenance that had not been done – it’s pretty clear that if you don’t do any preventative maintenance you’re going to have to do some very large capital works at some point to bring it up to code,” he said.
He said the situation in Farnham had been repeated across the borough.
“I have found every single place where Conservatives, whose name contains the word ‘conserve’, seemingly did none of that.
“We have similar issues here, where Waverley is now having to cough up for a grotesque underspend in maintenance,” he said.
“How on earth could a listed building like that – bearing in mind that the £6,800 figure includes its compliance obligations for the year as well, so its electric and various other elements – how on earth would that ever have been sufficient?”
“This is another difficult decision but it’s not one that we can avoid. It is incredibly frustrating the amount of money this administration is having to spend dealing with chronic underspends in maintenance over the last decade and in some cases longer than that.”
The Executive agreed to recommend allocating £610,000 from capital reserves to carry out urgent timber repair work. The new funding will be discussed at the full council meeting of Waverley on Wednesday, October 22.
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