A Freedom of Information request has revealed that High Peak Borough Council spent a total of £8.25 million in taxpayers’ money buying the Springs shopping centre in Buxton.

Robert Largan MP worked closely with others to successfully secure £10 million to regenerate Buxton town centre, including £6.6 million from the Government’s Future High Street Fund which went towards the purchase.

When the Borough Council informed Mr Largan that they were considering using taxpayers’ money to buy The Springs, he asked them to set out what they planned to do with it.

The response they gave Mr Largan was “we’ll pay consultants to tell us what to do.”

After the Borough Council clarified this, they then initially refused to release details on exactly how much the centre had cost, claiming the information was “commercially sensitive” even though the purchase had already been completed.

After a further review of the Freedom of Information request, the Council has now reluctantly released the full cost of the purchase at £8.25 million.

This is not believed to include what the Labour Council will pay consultants, to tell them what to do with the centre.

When Mr Largan carried out his own survey on the Council’s proposals to buy the shopping centre, the vast majority of residents either didn’t understand the Council’s proposals or were opposed to the purchase of the shopping centre.

Instead, residents responded more positively to the local MP’s idea to open up the River Wye to create new waterfront retail spaces in the town centre. 65% of residents were in favour of the idea.

Robert Largan MP commented:

“I’m deeply concerned about how the Labour Council have used taxpayers’ money without a clear plan for how to make the site profitable or how much more they need to spend on it

“Just imagine if they had used that money to buy High Peak Halls instead, to prevent it being turned into a large-scale asylum dispersal centre!

“One upside is that the Council now have the ability to provide more public toilets in Buxton town centre, for which I have been campaigning for years. However, they are yet to deliver this.

“This fund is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to regenerate Buxton, but the Labour Council are in serious danger of squandering it. It’s time that they started to listen to the people they represent.”

Residents can sign Robert’s petition calling for public toilets to be installed in The Springs at www.robertlargan.co.uk/springs-toilets