It is a bit rich when Paul Diviani offers the Radio Devon interviewer Matt Woodley a personal guided tour of the Knowle HQ to point out the refurbishment issues when this is an opportunity being denied to local people. Diviani has even refused to allow an independent surveyor to check the (secret) figures on refurbishment. All we know is that a figure of £15.9m has been suggested and, given that EDDC seems to have got ALL its costs wrong so far, surely this is one that should be checked immediately.
An independent surveyor should also be allowed access to the past and present maintenance schedule for the Knowle, which might turn up some very unexpected surprises.
East Devon Watch 
I don’t have the URL to hand, but recent committee / cabinet Agendas have had reports which provide some detail on the refurbishment costs.
That said, these were only ball-park estimates, many of which were simply allowances in case something was needed without any evidence either way as to whether it was needed, or how much was needed.
And I am sure that not all the work is essential (except if you want to refurbish to a luxury standard) either; I am sure that you could undertake essential maintenance to the basic fabric first, and defer major adjustments to the office layout, decoration and furniture until later.
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WOULD IT REALLY COST NEARLY £16 MILLION TO REFURBISH THE KNOWLE?
Last night’s Cabinet meeting was given a Relocation Update Report claiming that it would cost £15.9 million to refurbish all the Knowle council buildings, and £7.7 million to renovate just the more modern offices – completed, incidentally, in the 1980s, not the 1970s as the Report says.
Some sceptics doubt the objectivity of these estimates. They’re based on a “cost model” analysis by the council’s consultants AECOM “following a request” by Steve Pratten who is an employee of AECOM “embedded” with the Council who plays an important role in the Relocation “Team.”
In court in August, Deputy Chief Executive Richard Cohen challenged the Information Commissioner’s directive that EDDC should publish some of Mr Pratten’s reports on the Knowle. He argued that Mr Pratten was so cosily “embedded” that he should be regarded as an officer so that his reports were not be subject to Freedom of Information requests.
There might be an open invitation to Matt Woodley to visit the Knowle, but EDDC leaders have bluntly refused to allow an independent survey of the modern offices even when called on to do so by the Overview and Scrutiny committee.
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