“We’re not selling the family silver”
That was the claim made by Welshpool Town Clerk, Robert Robinson, after it was confirmed that a fee of ‘in excess of £800,000’ has been agreed for a Burgess Trust parcel of land behind the site of the most recent development up Red Bank.
The Burgess Lands Trust was set up in 1761 with a permanent endowment to provide income for two objectives. These are the maintenance, building, extending, beautifying and repairing of the Council’s buildings and when this objective has been met then any surplus can be made available for the poor and needy.
Recently, almost £300,000 was made from selling off 25 acres of agricultural land, while it is believed that contracts are close to being exchanged for the development land pictured.
“This is not about selling off the family silver, it is about getting a better return on investment for the people of Welshpool,” said Mr Robinson, a trustee for the fund.
“The agricultural land we sold was bringing in just £3,000 a year whereas we can reinvest the money from the sale to make around £14,500 a year.
“It is vital that we look at ways of creating a sustainable stream of income for the town.”
It is not known who has bought the development land but permission has already been granted to build 24 new houses on the field. Work is set to begin soon on four other pre-approved houses next to the Burgess Croft estate which was completed three years ago.
The addition of the 28 new houses will bring the total number of houses built there to 72.
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