NO RISK TO COUNCIL
Thursday, May 24th, 2007|
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| 11:50 - 24 May 2007 |
| Sid anning (May 12) contacted me about HMS Plymouth some time ago and I was grateful to hear of his experience with other ships. I explained in detail the proposals for returning HMS Plymouth to her home port.However, in his letter to The Herald he seems to have misunderstood both the plan and my Herald letter of May 3. The return of HMS Plymouth would be a private enterprise by Warship Management Ltd. It is incorrect for Mr Anning to write that ‘the council creams off ALL the profits AND puts very little back IN’. Any profits, and any losses, too, would accrue to the private company. The city therefore would be shielded from the losses which Mr Anning so fears: but the city, and possibly the National Marine Aquarium too, will very definitely benefit from tens of thousands of extra visitors to the Barbican.
Mr Anning also says: “To bring her down here and simply hope that everything is going to be fine and dandy is foolhardy”. This overlooks the assurance in my letter of May 3 that “the city council is not underwriting this proposal and, on the contrary, will insist that it is commercially viable, and check this as a matter of due diligence”. Cllr DAVID SALTER Plymouth |