No Detail Surrounding Preferred Bidder

On the 12th December 2017 Scarborough Borough Council (SBC) announced that the Preferred Bidder to redevelop the Filey Road Sports Centre site was awarded to local company Broadland Properties Ltd.

Browsing through the agenda of the Cabinet meeting held on the 12th December 2017 and every subsequent Cabinet meeting since that date reveals a distinct lack of information regarding the Preferred Bidder process.

There is no detail surrounding the number of bidders involved nor is there any information detailing the selection criteria used to award Preferred Bidder status. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

The only agenda item relating to it was the sale of Filey Road Sports Centre to Broadland Properties Ltd during the Cabinet meeting on 11th September 2018.

Broadland Properties Ltd, like previous major project preferred bidder Flamingo Land Ltd, are large donors to the Conservative Party. Broadland Properties have donated £753,000 to the Conservative Party. £3,000 of that was donated to the Scarborough & Whitby Conservatives just six months before the decision was announced.

Broadland Properties director John Guthrie has personally donated £4,000 to the Scarborough & Whitby Tories.

The Enquirer understands that a small number of senior Conservatives and a senior SBC Officer visited Mr Guthrie’s super-luxury VIP accommodation at Conaglen House on his 40,000 acre estate the Scottish Highlands. Perusing those councillors’ and officers’ gifts and hospitality registers reveals nothing was declared for the trip.

On May 2nd we go to the polls to elect new councillors. I’m standing for the UK Independence Party in Northstead ward and I’d like to represent residents to ask pertinent questions such as these during council meetings.