A detailed examination into plans to transform the town centre has begun. Swale council’s director of regeneration Pete Raine and cabinet member Cllr John Wright gave evidence as part of the inquiry during a meeting held at Swale House. Hayley Robinson reports.

The investigation was called for by Labour leader Cllr Roger Truelove (pictured) following a range of concerns about the viability of the £450m scheme.

The study is being carried out by the backbench policy overview committee.

The plans include proposals to build a new Tesco store, a footbridge linking this with the town centre, a cinema and other leisure space and homes.

Cllr Truelove says there are uncertainties about the large Tesco/Spenhill development as they still haven’t got the agreement of the Highways Agency months after planning permission was granted.

Other worries include only bits of the proposals being delivered and large reserves being built up to cover unanticipated costs to do with the scheme.

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Truelove said: "I pressed them on why they are building up such big reserves.

"I suggested it was a safety net in case things went belly up. The answer from John Wright was it’s always wise to put money aside if you need it, if you don’t need it you’ve still got it.

"We discussed the position with Tesco and the long delays there have been and if it would affect their commitment to the town. I said I believed it had they (Pete and John) said it hadn’t.

"Pete was saying we must be careful not to be too negative. My view is we need to be more candid.

It’s such a massive ambition for the council to take on I fear we will only get bits of it because it’s too much for the council."

The committee now plans to speak to Tesco and the Spirit of Sittingbourne Consortium, the council’s preferred development partner which was chosen last year to take forward regeneration plans, as well as the public.

A report of its findings will be presented to the cabinet at a later date.

Director of Regeneration Pete Raine (pictured) says he still has faith in the plans for the town centre coming to fruition.

He says they are waiting for the highways situation to be resolved and for Communities Secretary Eric Pickles to decide on whether the plan needs to be ‘called in’ to be reconsidered.

This is because the final scheme is "potentially a departure from the local plan".

They are also waiting for the period for any legal challenges to pass. He believes this will be Christmas time at the latest.

Once all of this is resolved, they expect Tesco/Spenhill to release funding.

He said: "We can still make the regeneration go ahead without Tesco because we’ve got a Morrisons coming out of the ground and if the development agreement is signed with the Spirit of Sittingbourne by the end of this month, and I expect it will be, that will start to get people staying in Sittingbourne and coming to Sittingbourne.

"I understand why people think ‘is it ever going to happen?’ But in the last three years we’ve had a recession and Sittingbourne isn’t like Kensington where land development is high.

"It was always going to be difficult to get it going. I’m still hopeful it’s going to happen and I still have faith in the developers who have come forward."

He dismissed claims that the council’s reserve funds had been built up to cover any unanticipated costs to do with the regeneration plans.

"It might be that some money is needed [for unanticipated costs] but there are lots of other reasons the reserves maybe needed," he said.

"We don’t know what’s going to happen to government funding over the years so it makes sense to have a cushion.

"Also part of the deal with the developer [Spirit of Sittingbourne] is we end up with a new gateway building and that would house a new library, new council offices and new meeting rooms for the users of Phoenix House but what we will get is a bare building and we will have to fit it out.

"A rough estimate to do that is about £1.5m. That’s the sort of thing we need reserves for."