Council's £5m Leighton land deal falls through

By Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter

A “substantial” sale of land near Welshpool worth £5 million for Powys County Council has fallen through, councillors have been told.

At a meeting of the council’s Economy Residents and Communities scrutiny committee on Monday, councillors probed draft budget proposals for savings and costs including property and planning.

One of the expectations is that the council makes £10 million a year in ‘capital receipts’, which come from selling assets with the money used to finance other building and infrastructure projects.

Liberal Democrat Raiff Devlin pointed out that projections for money raised by capital receipts in the Medium Term Financial Strategy for next year would be £6.194 million, followed by £4.248 million in both 2026/2027 and 2027/2028 and then dropping to £2.248 million for 2028/2029 and 2029/2030.

Cllr Devlin asked: “It’s obviously significantly less than what is included in the Medium Term Financial Strategy, could you explain why?”

Cabinet member for planning and property, Cllr Jake Berriman, replied: “We have a target of £10 million that we’re working to. We were on track this year to generate £10 million in income, but members will know we lost a substantial sale of around £5 million.

“So, the projection to this year end from sale of assets is up towards £5.6 million in total.”

Just before Christmas, council leader Liberal Democrat James Gibson-Watt sent an email to all councillors to explain that the sale had fallen through.

Cllr Gibson-Watt said: “Unfortunately, after a lengthy period of prevarication and delayed responses from the purchaser’s legal representatives, and a recent request from the council to the purchaser to affirm the purchase completion for Gwyn’s Barn, we have now received notification from the purchaser’s representative that they do not intend to proceed with the purchase.

“I have instructed officers that no further action should be taken with regard to the council’s plans for the farm until discussions have taken place with group leaders and the chair and members of the farms estate cabinet advisory group.”

Gwyn’s Barns refers to a decision was taken in secret by the Liberal Democrat/Labour cabinet in September 2023 to sell 218 acres of the council’s farm estate in Leighton.

The buyers were believed to be Welshpool-based waste and recycling firm, Potters, who were said to be willing to offer £5 million for the land. The decision caused uproar amongst opposition councillors.

The deal was called in for scrutiny by the Economy, Residents and Communities committee back in October – and despite calls for the meeting to be held in public, the probe took place in secret.

Potters have been asked for a comment.