A TWENTY-five year lease of the Goods Shed by Tetbury Town Council for £1 each year is "not a good deal for the town", town councillor Colin Pearce said.

It was previously agreed at a full council meeting on September 26 that the Goods Shed would be leased to the Tetbury Rail Lands Regeneration Trust for a peppercorn rent of £1 for the first five years.

Since then, the town council has reconsidered the terms of lease, extending the duration of the peppercorn rent to the first 10 years, and then to 25 years.

Previously, it was agreed that after the first five years of peppercorn rent, the council would receive £5000 of annual rent and 25 per cent of the art centre’s profit share.

The re-examinations were made due to considerations regarding VAT and the Goods Shed’s business plan.

Cllr Pearce criticised the most recently agreed lease at a full council meeting on Monday, November 28: “The 25 year lease is not a very good deal for the town.

"We have invested hundreds of thousands of towns people’s money into this project. And for 25 years we’re going to get £25 back.

“This is very important, this is a lot of money we’re investing. You asked us to vote the other day without any backing paper, without any information.

“The budget it was going to come under when we set it was right. But the way the goalposts have moved over the several months, it’s not a very good deal.

“When we set a budget for a job, that should be maintained. We should have had a 15-year commercial lease.”

Town mayor Stephen Hirst responded: “We discussed this before. We had a vote so the council voted to invest in this building.”

Deputy mayor Kevin Painter said: “Colin is not against the Goods Shed. He is actually being the voice of the people out there. At the end of the day, we are accountable for our money. I think what Colin was seeking was clarification of information.”

Will Cook, chairman of the Rail Lands Trust, said later in the meeting: “What we want to do is put something into this town. It is value for money, I think it will make such a difference to Tetbury.

“There’s a lot of people that will benefit from this and to hear Colin speaking tonight about getting a bad deal for the town… We will achieve what we will achieve. We will do it.”

“We have raised £298,000 which is pretty amazing. That means we have all money for the seats (we have 10 more to sell) and we got all the money for the top cinema equipment.

“All that money is going to a building that the town council owns.

He explained that the trust was now looking to raise a total of £29,000, which includes funds for a new kitchen.