Sir – Witney Town Council has borrowed money to pay for the Corn Exchange refurbishment, which it had planned to repay by selling one of our precious community assets, the Langdale Hall.
This sale has now been stopped for the time being. Great news for Witney residents – but this turn of events makes me really concerned about how the finances in this town are being managed.
The halls have earned a good income for this town in the past.
But for the past three years the Corn Exchange has been closed, losing over £70,000 per annum in revenue. The Langdale Hall used to earn £100,000–£120,000 per annum.
The town clerk decided to apportion central overheads against these income figures, thus appearing to show a loss for the halls.
I pointed out to her that these central overheads should be allocated to core council tax income, but this was ignored.
The resultant paper loss may well have influenced the decision of councillors to sell this important asset.
James Robertshaw, prospective UKIP candidate for Witney South, High Street, Witney
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