Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council are calling on the Conservative administration at County Hall to stop further investment in commercial property outside of Surrey and to address the scandal of empty County Council owned buildings in Surrey either through using these buildings to provide services or ensuring that they are sold or let.

The Conservative administration at County Hall has invested £199 million in commercial properties outside of Surrey whilst it has allowed properties that it owns in Surrey, such as the former Adult Education Centre in Dene Street – Dorking, to lie empty and decay.

Liberal Democrats believe that the Conservatives at County Hall need to get their priorities right, and that it is unacceptable and risky to invest huge sums of money in properties outside Surrey whilst leaving its own buildings in the county vacant, deteriorating, losing value, and prone to vandalism whilst costing taxpayers significant sums of money to secure these vacant buildings.

The County Council is not a property company and its primary role is to provide services to Surrey residents. Our message for the Conservatives at County Hall is that they need to get their house on order, to stop risking public money on commercial property investments outside Surrey and to start managing the properties that the County Council already own in Surrey and ensuring that public money is not wasted on securing vacant buildings.