Land sold for £150k might be worth £4m
A publicly owned “ransom strip” that is being sold to Bath Cricket Club for £150,000 could be worth as much as £4 million, critics have claimed.
The club needs the verge in North Parade Road for access so it can build 136 student flats and improved sporting facilities.
Bath and North East Somerset Council agreed to hand it over for “less than best consideration” after calculating that the development would deliver £2million in community benefits. That decision has now been challenged amid claims senior councillors and officers were not given key details.
Leading the cross-party call-in on February 10, Councillor Colin Blackburn said: “At £150,000, this land is being cheaply given away to benefit a developer of a student block.”
The club’s plans, approved in March 2018, include a student block, indoor cricket school and teaching and learning space.
Cllr Blackburn said the council leader, chief executive and planning committee should have been informed land owned by the authority would play a key role in the development.
Bob Goodman, a chartered surveyor and former cabinet member, said the project could be worth £10 million, so the value of the land could be £3-4 million. He told scrutiny panel members: “I can’t see this strip is worth only £150,000.”
The cricket club, which has stressed its willingness to offer the council “full support and cooperation” over the plans, struck a deal to buy the strip of land off the council for £150,000 and pay it a peppercorn rent.
The decision notice said the improved facilities would help the club secure external funding and deliver £2 million of community benefits. Former councillor Patrick Anketell-jones said the planning committee was not told the council owned the land. He voted for the development.
But Cllr Eleanor Jackson said the council should get the best possible value for its land and should not be “complicit” in a development that does not have good disabled access.
Cllr Winston Duguid said: “It can’t be right cabinet members don’t know what’s going on, and planning committee members don’t know a fundamental part of an application,” he said.
The decision was signed off by Cllr Richard Samuel, cabinet member for resources last month. Scrutiny panel members upheld the call-in, meaning it will be reviewed by Cllr Samuel.
Speaking after the meeting, he said: “The valuation of the land and the community benefits were undertaken using widely used and recognised industry methodologies. My decision was called in for further scrutiny and I welcomed the opportunity to explain and review the background to this decision at the meeting. I’ll take on board the recommendations of the panel in making my final decision.”