On a clear day, the council’s ambitious plan was for Woking’s tall buildings to be seen from the viewing levels of the Shard in London. Residents, however, view the unfinished towers with much less pride and a symbol of the Surrey town’s financial woes.
Woking borough council this week announced a sweeping package of cuts to local services, after the local authority in effect declared itself bankrupt in June, revealing a £1.2bn deficit racked up from a risky investment spree overseen by its former Conservative administration. The towers were at the centre of the problem, with cost overruns adding to vast debts.
“I don’t know where to start. It’s all gone sideways,” says Chigz Hirani, owner of the Hair Lab salon, a stone’s throw from the towers. “Where has the money gone? It started off as being a couple of hundred million, but a billion pounds? It’s got to have gone somewhere.”
Like many in the town, Hirani is angry and wants answers. “Something dodgy has gone on,” he says. “They’ve got no money left but they’ll have to find it from somewhere. It’ll come from us, in taxes.”
Woking is among growing numbers of English councils in severe financial distress, with Birmingham the latest this week to declare itself in effect bankrupt. The UK’s largest local authority joined Thurrock, Slough, Croydon and Northamptonshire among recent high-profile blow-ups.
With debts of £1.8bn after its failed investment spree, Woking hopes to make cost savings of £8.5m a year in a vain effort to balance the books. It is also holding talks with Michael Gove’s levelling up department – hunting for financial support that is likely to prove tricky to secure for a council in a leafy Surrey commuter town when many other more deprived areas across Britain are struggling.
Earmarked for the chop include the town’s Pool in the Park swimming pool, council funding for the arts, playgrounds and community care schemes, affecting the young, the old and the most vulnerable. All 12 public toilets will be removed and 13 sports pavilions will have funding scrapped.
Residents are particularly angry about losing the pool, a prized community hub. It’s a decision the council isn’t taking lightly after a consultation before the cuts showed it ranked among the top three most used services. The plans are for a phased closure over three years. However, it is also a costly asset, with a £1.8m bill last year.
Ian Johnson has just renewed his over-65s’ annual membership and is worried. “It’s so sad. It keeps me active,” he says. He blames the council. “They promised the towers and sold a good story. But there has been so much mismanagement.”
The council will launch a consultation on its plans next month and hopes to keep several of its facilities running by transferring them to charities and volunteers. Some community groups remain hopeful they can keep going without direct support, others fear they may close.
One organisation facing a cut to all its funding is Dance Woking. At a free taster session for children at Knaphill junior school just outside the town, Debbie Harrison, the headteacher, says losing the group’s expert instructors will be damaging for pupils. “We would be devastated if we didn’t have this. It’s the opportunity it provides for our children that is so powerful. It’s really good for children’s wellbeing, as a way to express themselves. You never know, they could end up being West End stars.”
The Lightbox art gallery’s director, Sarah Brown, is concerned the loss of all funding could force it to close.
Liz White is drawing pictures of the sculptures on display in the gallery by the artist Sophie Ryder in the final days of an exhibition at the award-winning facility. “We’re worried about what’s going on,” she says.
A town without art and culture would have little to attract people to live and work there, she says. “How can cuts be the right answer? You need to get people into the town. There has to be more than just shops.”
Most locals blame Woking’s problems on the Tories who controlled or led the council for the decade up to May 2022, when the Liberal Democrats ousted the party in local elections.
Woking has also struggled with austerity imposed from Westminster. Councils across England faced cuts of almost 60p in every £1 of central government grant funding between 2010 and 2020 under the drive to shrink the state started by George Osborne. Although funding settlements have partly recovered in recent years, the Local Government Association estimates there will still be a shortfall of £4.5bn next year.
Richard Price, shopping in the town centre before a weekend camping trip with his family, feels let down by the Tories, whom he voted for in the last elections.
“Someone needs to carry the can,” he says. “Whoever made all of the unwise decisions, they need to be held accountable for the actions they’ve taken.”
