Heeley Road Decision to stand
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Fylde Councillors faced questions again at last night’s (23rd March) Council meeting about their proposals to dispose of surplus land at Heeley Road in St Annes.
The disposal of the site, to the Muir Housing Group, for the development of supported housing for homeless families, has been agreed by the Council’s Cabinet but received a mixed response from other Councillors. The decision was called-in by the Scrutiny Committee and was referred for debate by the full Council last year when a further site valuation was called for before the deal was finalised.
The call-in arose when some Councillors thought that the land was being sold for less than it would be worth on the open market. However, they heard through the call-in process that the disposal of local authority assets at below-market value is common practise when councils are also promoting social and economic wellbeing through their policies. The disposal of this site is one example of this. Another example is the “gift” of Kirkham baths (approximate value £400,000) to a community organisation so that swimming facilities can be retained in the Borough.
The additional valuation sought in response to the call-in however confirmed that the market value of the site was £250,000 and this was agreed by Members as the sale price. Cabinet resolved to press ahead with the sale to help vulnerable members of the local community who may be the unfortunate victims of the current economic downturn.
More recently, it has been suggested by a group opposing the sale, that there is an alternative buyer waiting with a more generous cash offer for the site. This offer has been explored by council officers but they have not been able to substantiate these claims and the disposal to the Muir Group will now go ahead following last night’s decision.
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