Parish council sells off controversial piece of land – for a loss
A parish council has announced it has sold a controversial piece of land which triggered the resignation of the former chairman and vice-chairman over its purchase.
Heckington Parish Council issued a statement on Thursday (July 3) informing villagers that it was “pleased to announce” it had now completed the sale of the field at Star Fen – at a loss of over £3,000.
The land had been purchased by the council in April 2024 with a view to becoming an environment area and public open space for residents to enjoy. But the fact that it was two miles away from the centre of the village down a single track country lane without paths was deemed by some as poor value for money.
They argued that a poll via social media was unsatisfactory and a public meeting called for a formal parish poll, which was held in September 2024. It requested the land to be resold to recoup the parish’s money.
The parish council has stated that the purchase of the field at Star Fen “did not follow proper process”.
They offered a break down of the total cost to the Parish Council, with an original purchase price of £71,500, legal and other fees associated with the purchase – £2,881.31, external audit fees to investigate the purchase -
£7,551.60, cost of the Parish Poll regarding the field – £5,140.66, and legal and other fees associated with the sale of the field – £2,132.40, making a total of £89,205.97.
In their statement to parishioners, the council said that prior to offering the land for sale, the council commissioned valuation surveys from three different land agents. Those valuations ranged from £47,500 to £71,500. The land was offered for sale through a sealed bid process handled by the land agent, for bids in excess of £72,500.00.
They stated: “The final sale price the Parish Council negotiated was £85,493 after sales and legal costs. While higher than the amount paid to buy it, it was not enough to cover the impact on the Parish Council’s finances – the net loss to the council was £3,712.97.”
The council said that the Star Fen purchase resulted in other costs such as the cost of a by-election caused by the resignations of the chairman, vice-chairman and a councillor, and the costs associated with the resignation of the former clerk, both of which happened after the purchase of the field.
They claimed: “The money to buy the field was inappropriately moved from other budgets. The pavilion and cemetery in particular have been neglected and as a result, emergency repairs to both have been more costly than they could have been.
“While we welcome this sale, the Heckington Parish Council is acutely aware of the hole left in our finances. Every week we find costs that could have been avoided with better use of council resources.”
They added: “The purchase of the field was engineered without the proper level of transparency and scrutiny. The current councillors will never allow this to happen again and promise to take much better care of your money in the future.”
Both former chairman Jan Palmer and former vice-chairman Richard Higgs have been approached for comment.
Mrs Palmer declined to comment on the claims, but said: “I do not know what we have done wrong.
"It is very sad for the village.”