Money to Burn: £1.7m council land-grab, the 'economics of the madhouse' say opposition

Earlier this week members sitting on Full Council ratified an earlier decision of the authority's executive to forge ahead with the land-grab, as opposition Councillors warned that the deal could end up costing the Selby taxpayer up to £6m in the long term.

The Burn Airfield site was recently the subject of a deeply controversial planning application that would have seen part of the airfield converted for use by the travelling community. The application was subsequently rejected by the Council's own planning committee.

The new bid centres around a tie-up with the Homes and Communities Agency and could see the 82-acre airfield developed as part of strategic Council ambitions to deliver more housing and employment sites.

But questions remain over how the purchase will be financed, with concerns over whether the cash-strapped authority would be able to find the money from existing reserves or be forced to take out an expensive loan.

Opposition leaders slammed the idea however, branding the plans the 'economics of the madhouse'. They claim any loan could cost upto £112,000 a year in interest payments alone and condemn Selebians to '50 years of debt'.

Economic spokesperson for the opposition Labour group, Cllr Bob Packham said, “This report recommends, on the basis of flimsy information, that the Council in a period of extreme austerity, borrows £1.7 million to purchase a site which is already in public ownership, for what purpose we are not explicitly told, at an ongoing cost of £112,000 per year for the next fifty years. Additional to this is a £10,000 a year management cost.

“The reason given for the purchase of the site is that it is ‘a strategic site for potential future develoment, for better planning for the District’ the only example of the potential use of the site in the report is that it would protect the proposed route of a Burn Bypass.

“Selby already has over provision of employment land why do we need more? Is the site really suitable for an isolated new town / village?”

Selby Online asked Selby District Council to comment on the scheme but it declined to respond to our invitation.

Update:

Since this article was originally published, Selby District Council has been in touch to dispute the figures as put forward by the opposition group. It says estimated interest on any loan would be in the region of £77,000 per annum plus and additional £35,000 p.a., set aside to repay the debt over 50 years.

The Council says it views the purchase of the site as a 'long term investment' that will 'secure future development opportunities for [the] Selby District'.