BEVERLEY – For some time, Beverley residents have been left to speculate about the public money spent on the purchase and attempted renovation of the former St John’s Ambulance building in Morton Lane.
Now, after a request by Beverley Review, Beverley Town Council has given a full breakdown of spending; including the losses the project has incurred.
The scheme began as an ambitious plan to create a new town hall for Beverley using the building, which was built in 1888 and had been empty for some time.
Councillors bought the property in 2022 and went on to commission surveys, professional advice, project management and architectural work as plans were developed.
At time of purchase Councillor Linda Johnson said “When the St John Ambulance building came onto the market, the current Town Councillors were certain it would be perfect.”
But no redevelopment ever took place, and the council is now proposing to sell the property on at a loss.
Using the figures supplied to Beverley Review by officials at Beverley Town Council, at least £278,882 of public money has been spent on the purchase, holding, management and attempted redevelopment of the building.
That figure comprises the £235,000 purchase price, £1,580 in survey fees, £2,950 in legal and stamp duty costs, £2,980 in valuation and auction-related costs, £765 in remedial works, £10,705 in architect fees, £7,845 in project management fees, £10,545 in insurance-related costs, £3,942 in rates, £1,750 in external works and caretaking, £367 in water charges and £451 in electricity costs.
The council says it has now received an offer for the building of £240,500 from an undisclosed buyer. If completed, this would, on paper, point to an overall loss of around £38,382 to the public purse over the course of the scheme.
The council has said that costs may rise further, with legal, sales fees and utility bills still due. Its has not commented on any opportunity costs connected to the scheme, such as staff time allocated to the four-year project, interest forgone on the investment, or the potential value that might have been created had the building been successfully brought back into use.
In disclosing the figures, the Liberal Democrat-run council may hope to draw a line under the long-running public debate over the extent of the losses.
Council documents from 2023 show budget allocations of over £100,000 relating to the project. However, the losses disclosed today appear lower than this number and lower than some had feared. Even so, some local observers are likely to remain unsatisfied with the outcome.
Many on the town’s social media channels have pointed to wider concerns about the council’s financial arrangements.
For instance, at the same time problems were occurring with the town hall project, the council’s internal audit report showed the authority’s financial reserves were also under pressure.
In 2022, documents showed a general and earmarked reserves of £710,000. By June 2025, an agenda item recorded that these had fallen to earmarked reserve pot of £146,094 and a general reserves fund down to £103,750.
Records also show that town council tax charges rose by 45.5 per cent, from £282,828 in 2023 to £411,550 in 2025, with further rises since announced, meaning that the council has raised their portion of council tax (known as the precept) by over 50% in the past few years.
Taken together, this is likely to leave some further questions in residents’ minds: why was so much spent on a town hall project that has since been abandoned?
Are the decisions made around the Town Hall project in any way related to the wider decisions made on spending of reserves and the dramatic increase in council tax precept? Has there been difficult circumstances not fully explained in official papers? Or, as some critics claim, is there a problem with financial management and decision making within the council?
In lieu of a full answer, Beverley Review has begun to examine council documents to try and report what has been happening.
There is a decision trail in the public record for at least part of the town hall expenditure.
Full Council minutes from January 2023 record approval for the engagement of Delaney Marling Partnership to obtain indicative vision briefs for the town hall project. Minutes from April 2023 record approval of a contract with Delaney Marling Partnership.
Minutes from April 2024 record the selection of Salt Architects to work on the project. By July 2024, council papers said Salt Architects had presented a schedule of consultation and other works to develop the project.
However, there is still no clear way to tie each payment to a specific resolution, business case or formal authorisation point. That is one reason residents may feel there is more to know.
No one could blame local taxpayers for wanting to know not only how much was spent, but who authorised each stage of the project, on what basis, and at which meeting.
Beverley Review approached a local Liberal Democrat representative for comment but was referred back to officials at the council.
Cllr Leo Hammond for the local Conservatives said:
“We’ve watched with amazement as the Liberal Democrats have made decisions around this vanity project.
Their failure to understand basic project management, delivery, and basic maths raises real concerns about the future of not just Beverley, but the whole East Riding as they wish to take over East Riding Council in a year’s time.
The same Beverley Town Council individuals who have failed with this project and burnt taxpayers’ money are leading the Lib Dems at County Hall and if they win control of the council will be our new leaders.
I hope their failings as town councillors show local people why the Lib Dems are not the people to trust with delivering the services which matter.
Locally the Conservatives continue to get on with the day job of fixing the roads and delivering for our communities whilst these lot play silly games with politics and other people’s money”
We also presented the data to local Labour figures including Margaret Pinder a former Labour councillor who resigned from Beverley Town Council in 2021 over concerns surrounding its financial management.
She told The Beverley Review:
“Back in 2023 I raised procedural failings and lack of due diligence in the acquisition of the Morton Lane building with the External Auditor who upheld my complaint. But that is just one item in a long litany of financial failings.
Over the last three budgets, this iteration of the Council has raised the precept by nearly 54% and taken £1.25million from the taxpayers of Beverley with precious little to show for it.
It begs the question as to how much value for money is being delivered for our residents.”
In previous statements the Liberal Democrat-run authority have put the problems with the town hall project down to former Prime Minister Liz Truss and her mini budget which had made the project unaffordable.
Whilst the record clearly shows evidence of rising costs, statements from other developers and market analysts suggest a more mixed picture across the wider East Yorkshire commercial property market.
In a general press release, PPH Commercial described the Hull and East Riding market as bright, with good demand for small and medium industrial units and very limited supply.
Savills reported that industrial and logistics take-up across Yorkshire and the North East had risen by 48 per cent over the previous twelve months.
The successful activity of local developer Wykeland over the same period, while Beverley Town Council’s building remained empty, only sharpens the contrast.
There are several examples of commercial property ventures moving forward in the region. For many residents, this may make the outcome of the project more unsatisfactory.
If other commercial property ventures were still moving ahead in the region, why did this one fail?
For now, Beverley Town Council remains determined to deliver another town hall for Beverley. The ‘Town Hall Advisory Working Group’ for 2025/26 is described on its website as a group to steer the new town hall project and report directly back to Full Council.
Photo credits: RightMove, Beverley Town Council.