South Hams District and Devon County Councillor Julian Brazil has hit out at South Hams District Council after the recently 'failed' Aldi project in Ivybridge has left South Hams residents 'holding a £485,000' bill.

Councillor Brazil wrote in his column for South Hams Newspapers that - 'Another ill-conceived SHDC project collapses' in what he claims is just one in a series of many other failed projects over the years.

Councillor Brazil referenced other schemes, that had 'missed the mark', such as the Premier Inn in Kingsbridge, which went through a long consultation process, only to be shut down by public consultation.

At several council meetings, Kingsbridge Town Council and residents shared concerns that data around car parking numbers, occupancy rates and many other factors were out of date.

There were also several concerns about why the Council wanted to build the budget hotel themselves using a public loan to fund the construction of the project.

Similarly, Councillor Brazil cites a number of other projects like the re-development of the Harbour Office in Salcombe, which he claims cost the public £100,000; the Solar Park Venture, which he also claims cost £150,000 and 'various community housing projects' which total around £1.5 -million.

In his column, Cllr Brazil also questions why the Council volunteered to borrow £9 million to build the supermarket for Aldi and why the Council should 'shoulder all the planning and construction costs.

Cllr Brazil says it is “A comedy of errors, which would be funny, if it wasn’t so expensive, have cost council taxpayers literally £millions."

He added that: "Council taxpayers should not have to pay for this.

"From the disastrous waste collection contract, to the latest Aldi fiasco, £millions will be lost. When will SHDC investigate what is going on and when will they stop wasting your money on projects no one wants?”

***South Hams District Council have taken the decision not to comment on Cllr Brazils Column at this time, and will respond in due course***