THE council's cabinet was divided last night as nearly half of its members, including the council's deputy leader, voted against the controversial Arcade site bail-out plan.
The Lib Dem group, which holds four of the 10 cabinet positions, last night decided not to support the plan, which was passed, in what is believed to be the first time the cabinet has split since the coalition formed in 2002.
The council plans to fund the scheme to redevelop the long-derelict site, on the corner of Hoe Street and High Street, by borrowing £35m, which it says it can recoup by selling off the Waltham Forest Pool & Track site for housing as well as units on the Arcade site. This means the all the financial risk will be on the taxpayer.
Developer St Modwen was initially to fund the project but pulled out because it did not believe it would be profitable in the current economic climate.
At a moody town hall meeting last night, Cllr Terry Wheeler, the authority's cabinet member for investment, said the site could be left empty for three to five more years unless the council steps in.
He said: "We have to respect our residents' wishes, people want to see, one way or another, something built on that site.
"Not intending to progess this project would be a betrayal of the silent majority of our residents."
Cllr Wheeler rejected recommendations from the scrutiny committee that there should be a full financial appraisal and feasibility study into the scheme, as well as an explanation of the financial reasons for the plan and a study into whether a swimming pool could be an effective "anchor tenant".
Cllr Wheeler said a feasibility study would be a "diversion from facing up to the real issues" and stressed that the cabinet report is clear that financial issues need to be "bottomed out".
But Lib Dem members were furious that they were asked to support the proposals without receiving more information about the financial thinking behind the plan and detail about what will happen to the Pool & Track site.
Cllr John Macklin, Lib Dem group leader said: "We need to make decisions with the full details and full information and we reqested this back in May, it did not arrive."
"We have got a history of knocking things down and leaving them derelict and I am worried about swapping one piece of derelict land in Walthamstow for another near the town hall, I am not certain these issues have been addressed.
"If we were furnished with good information we could make good decisions on this report."
The four Lib Dem members voted against the plan, which was passed because it was supported by the Labour members.
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