The recently agreed deal to sell the Central Club was no longer the highest bid, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed.

At a private meeting of Reading Borough Council's (RBC) virtual Policy Committee in September, councillors decided to accept a reduced offer from Redline for the former community centre on London Street.

Developer Redline originally wanted to build a seven-storey structure with affordable housing, with Reading Between the Lines, a theatre company, to use the ground floor for storage and rehearsal space.

READ MORE: Central Club sale confirmed subject to planning permission

Under the new plans, it is not clear how much housing there will be, but the council has confirmed the black history mural will be preserved and the community space will stay.

The FOI from Green councillor Rob White has revealed the basis for the decision to accept a reduced bid for the former community centre on London Street.

Green councillor Rob White said: "I think it was outrageous that the council attempted to sneak through the decision to reduce the price they would accept for the Central Club by putting everything in a confidential report.

"There should have been a public report so that members of the community knew what was going on and could have engaged properly with the council on this important issue.

"Aspire for example are still interested in this building. The press release the council put out after the meeting on this was clear as mud.

"I did the FOI Request to try and get some of this important information out into the public domain although disappointingly the council is still hiding behind commercial confidentiality for more than I think is necessary."

The report, which has been redacted to blank out information deemed commercially sensitive shows officers’ recommendation to accept the reduced offer.

Officers state the two disadvantages of agreeing to the deal are that “there is no certainty that the revised value agreed with the bidder represents market value” and the revised bid no longer being the highest value bid compared to other bids from the 2018 bidding process.

They add: “However, the other bids are no longer current and could well have faced similar planning issues to the Redline scheme.”

Officers also outlined the positives, including:

  • Redline’s proven track record
  • Avoiding delays
  • The council’s external valuer considers Redline’s revised offer to be the best commercial position in the current market

A spokesman for RBC said Redline amended the scope of the scheme and the financial offer “as a result of market conditions being experienced everywhere as a result of the pandemic”.

They said: “In light of the much changed market conditions, the council considered the revised bid to be the best outcome both in commercial terms and in terms of avoiding any further delays on the development of a site which has now been derelict for 15 years, not to mention progressing the restoration of Reading’s iconic black history mural.

“The alternative option, which was rejected by the council, was to re-run the tender process again with no guarantee that in the present market a better use or better price could be achieved.”

The specific details of the bid remain commercially confidential, the council said.

READ MORE: Reduced offer for Reading's former Central Club believed to have been accepted by council

And the spokesman added: “We can reiterate that this bid means Reading’s black history mural will be restored and maintained as part of any future development, which the council has been utterly categorical on since the outset.”

Historic England is currently considering whether to list the mural.

The Central Club was a ‘spiritual home’ for the black community in Reading before closing in 2006.

Community group Aspire failed in its bid to take over the property as Reading councillors agreed a 999-year lease with Redline.

Members of Aspire reacted angrily when they realised their bid had been unsuccessful, shouting “shame on you”.