DELAYS have held up an investigation into how the council illegally chose a contractor for a regeneration project.

West Berkshire Council was found to have breached EU procurement law in how it appointed a developer to regenerate the London Road Industrial Estate, Newbury, in 2015.

A task group of councillors is investigating how the council chose developer St Modwen. But the group has said delays mean the investigation will take longer than previously thought.

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The Court of Appeal in November 2018 found the council breached the law by entering into an agreement with St Modwen and not following the correct tendering process.

Councillor James Cole (Con, Kintbury), who chairs the task group, told the overview and scrutiny management commission (OSMC) on January 14 he “would be loth” to say the group will be finished by mid-March.

The group began to hold formal interviews this month, after reviewing at least 1,000 pages of evidence. They had previously planned to be finished by February or March.

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But Cllr Cole said: “Every time we try to pin this one down, something else comes up. We’ve got two or three meetings coming up this month, to get through the interviews.”

The council’s head of legal Sarah Clarke and audit manager Julie Gillhespey have been involved in the investigation, too. 

The regeneration of the London Road Industrial Estate will still likely go ahead: the council appointed new consultants Avison Young in December to write a development brief and masterplan for the area. 

The scheme could see offices and flats built on the area, including on the football ground where Newbury Football Club used to play until 2018. 

The next scheduled opportunity for the task group to report back to OSMC is on April 21, the date of the next meeting; unless a special meeting is arranged before then.