Letter: Coal Orchard attack an example of selective memory

Cllr Rodrigues is entitled to scrutinise Coal Orchard.

But it is remarkable that it has apparently taken the Conservative opposition six years and the approach of another council election to discover their outrage.

Coal Orchard was not an empty site.

It contained Taunton’s ageing St James Street swimming pool.

Leaving it derelict would itself have cost taxpayers substantial sums in security and maintenance, while condemning an important part of Taunton’s Independent Quarter to years of neglect.

Instead, the site was regenerated to provide homes, commercial premises, and an improved riverside environment.

Then came Covid, construction inflation, and disruption, followed by Midas Construction going into administration midway through the project.

The council had a choice: finish the job or leave a half-built development in the heart of Taunton.

What would Cllr Rodrigues have done: walk away?

His claims of multi-million-pound losses also ignore the council’s retained land, valued at approximately £2.6m.

The council has stated that the realised loss is closer to £300,000.

If Cllr Rodrigues has suddenly discovered a passion for scrutinising regeneration finances, perhaps he could explain why the same enthusiasm is not being applied to Northgate Yard in Bridgwater, which he supported.

Or perhaps we should discuss Deane House, where council records I hold show the previous Conservative administration spent approximately £7m on an asset subsequently valued at around £1.2m.

Where was his outrage then?

The timing is also striking.

This attack comes as Somerset Conservative leadership judgement is itself under scrutiny following the selection of a convicted former neo-Nazi as a Conservative council candidate.

Residents can draw their own conclusions about why Coal Orchard has suddenly become headline material six years later.

Somerset deserves robust opposition, but robust opposition requires consistency, judgement, and facts - not selective memory.

A leader cannot demand accountability for everyone else’s decisions while developing amnesia about those made on his own side.

If Cllr Rodrigues wants a genuine debate about value for money, let us have it: Coal Orchard, Northgate Yard, Deane House, and Firepool - same scrutiny, same standards.

That is accountability.

Anything less risks looking like political opportunism.

Cllr Habib Farbahi