Crunch talks will take place about the deterioration of key council buildings throughout Castle Point.

Members of the central services committee were set to discuss the problem of bringing Castle Point's leisure centres, public toilets and civic halls up to scratch at the meeting tonight.

Nigel Thomas, Castle Point's director of technical services, said there was a delay in repairs and thinks now is the time to act before it escalates out of control.

He said: "There is a backlog of maintenance repairs that need doing. If you don't keep up with repairs then things begin to deteriorate.

"Over time the council has not had the money allocated to maintenance and the buildings have got in a poor state of repair over many years.

"We have to address this backlog when looking at the budget. The options are to let the buildings rot to pieces or make repairs.

"All of our buildings apart from the council offices are looking tired and worn. This doesn't mean they are not functioning but they do need money to brighten them up, decorate and make basic repairs.

"We need to get members to earmark a bigger slice of the budget or give ourselves a problem in ten years."

The cost of paying for the backlog of repairs is unclear but previous surveys provide worrying reading.

Mr Thomas added: "We did a detailed survey of Runnymede and Waterside about four or five years ago and we were talking about £2million - but this was for refurbishment. It is only keeping the amenities running that I'm concerned about.

"Maybe we can involve the private sector in the improvements. We are still in the early stages and there is not a real panic - we just need good housekeeping."

The central services committee meeting will take place tonight at 7.30pm in the council offices, Kiln Road, Thundersley.

Published Monday, June 9, 2003

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