Gambling with our money

Most entrepreneurs know sometimes you have to take a gamble to reap the long term benefits. But taking the plunge with 3.5 million of tax payers money is an awfully big risk '“ especially for elected individuals. That is what critics have accused Rother councillors of doing by provisionally freeing up funding from the capital reserves on Monday for the Next Wave seafront project. The council has been accused of using a 'cart before the horse' approach in some circles by approving money and granting planning permission before completing a marketing exercise or public consultation. Members tell us this was necessary to have the chance of gaining crucial external funding through the bidding process. But that did little to calm the fears of a vocal minority of councillors, who feel Rother could be playing regeneration Russian roulette with public funds. The council will either stand or fall by its decision. Rother leader Cllr Carl Maynard could well be proved right '“ sometimes taking the plunge can pay off. The plan is for investors to be found and for the scheme to have a chain reaction, encouraging more money and business to the area. And Cllr Maynard is correct, going forward with an exciting programme has been seen to work elsewhere in the region and country. But success can never be guaranteed, especially in the current economic climate. The leader and other supporters of the scheme remind us the money is provisional and any risk can be mitigated by the marketing exercise and public consultation due to begin soon. That is true, but only if those safeguards are paid attention to. If the business case doesn't stack up after research, then responsible local government should see it dropped or radically altered. If the public, part-investors in the plan after all, have strong majority comments on aspects of the scheme, then Rother should listen. The Observer will be making sure councillors do pay attention and limit the role of chance in the equation. If Rother do things correctly, they will be loading the dice in their favour. But as any city trader will tell you, for every person who shook the dice and made his millions, there's a man who rolled snake-eyes.