Rival councillors clashed over Medway Council’s plans to spend up to £9 million on a new depot for refuse and street cleaning vehicles.

Medway Norse, which will carry out the authority’s waste collection and cleansing contract from October, does not currently have a base after Veolia refused to rent out its current site.

This has forced the council to seek suitable plots for the fleet, having already admitted plans to use the Pier Road, Gillingham, depot are only suitable for the “short term”.

Labour members accused the Conservative administration of having a “lack of foresight or forward planning”, but later supported the investment after saying they were “left with no option”.

Cllr Andy Stamp (Lab) said: “We have previously been given assurances that the use of Veolia’s depot could continue into the new contract, so it’s very disappointing this item has been added to the agenda.

“Approving up to £9m of expenditure to purchase a waste depot which we were previously told we wouldn’t need is a bitter pill to swallow – particularly when so many local services have been cut over the past few years.”

Leader Cllr Alan Jarrett (Con) reaffirmed previous comments made by cabinet members regarding Veolia’s change of heart regarding the use of its site, adding that the purchase cost would be repaid through rent charges.

He told colleagues: “Finding a site has presented us with challenges, but we’re now confident we’ve found a solution which will take us forward.”

'£9m is a significant amount of money to be taken at this late hour on a contract which is supposed to be Medway Council’s golden ticket in terms of service operation.' — Cllr Tristan Osborne

But this was not enough to satisfy the Labour councillors who questioned the timing of the decision.

Cllr Tristan Osborne (Lab) said: “£9m is a significant amount of money to be taken at this late hour on a contract which is supposed to be Medway Council’s golden ticket in terms of service operation.

“We shouldn’t agree to a blind-eyed £9m spend because of, effectively, a failure in the procurement process somewhere along the line.” But the proposal was voted through by both Conservative and Labour members, with only Cllr Roy Freshwater (Ukip) – who did not speak on the item – voting against.

Cllr Rupert Turpin (Con), who is also chairman of Medway Norse, added: “This puts us in a stronger position as a council because in 10 years’ time or whenever we do a new contract, it’ll be much easier to receive tenders from companies.

“We can say ‘this is the base you’ll be working from’. There will be no doubt, as there has been this time, because we didn’t have ownership of the previous site.”