(following a Freedom of Information request to Belper Town Council)
Following the failure of our construction project, Blue Box Belper was keen to understand how and why the project failed, despite us having secured over £650,000 towards the project, including the backing of the National Lottery Community Fund. Our attempts to understand the decision processes were blocked by the Town Council who repeatedly stated that Legal Professional Privilege (LPP) meant that they could not share the legal advice they had received and the Reports that were presented to the Town Council throughout 2024. This led to us formally submitting a Freedom of Information request, and due to public interest, we finally received the information.
For those interested, here is a link to our Review. Blue Box Belper shared a draft version of this Review with Belper Town Council, ahead of us sharing it publicly. Disappointingly, the Town Council’s response was to vote that “no further response will be provided”. During that same council meeting the town clerk referred to a “number of inaccuracies” in the Review, but when pressed was unwilling to disclose what these were. Whilst there was an acknowledgement that lessons can be learnt, there was no acceptance of accountability for the Town Council’s own failings on this project.
Blue Box Belper strongly believes we have produced an accurate and fair Review based on the FOI documents we received. Noting the Town Council’s unwillingness to share any details of perceived inaccuracies, BBB is now sharing this Review document publicly, confident that it highlights where things went wrong, whilst also providing constructive recommendations.
We look forward to sharing more details from the Review at our upcoming AGM, in order to hold our local decision makers and processes to account, and hear the views of the public on the matter.
