Mill work bill twice the price at auction
Saturday 8th November 2008, 9:29AM GMT.
Vale Mill shrouded in scaffolding in 2006. (0294615)
THE States spent more than £100,000 on the Vale Mill just 18 months before it was sold for just over half that amount this week.
The mill was sold to an anonymous bidder on Wednesday for £57,000, but 18 months ago £108,800 was spent on necessary repairs and general maintenance to make the property safe and wind and weather-tight.
Scaffolding first went up in the summer of 2005 after chunks of concrete began to fall from the building. Work was completed in August the following year.
States Property Services led the renovation work which was prompted by neighbours who feared damage would be caused to their properties by falling masonry from the concrete top section of the mill which was added during the Occupation.
A spokesman for Treasury and Resources said the building was ‘unsafe and ignoring the need for repair was a health and safety issue and could have caused a further drain on States funds’.
- To read Guernsey Press stories in full click here for subscription details. Individual editions are now available online.
Campaigns
Voice For Victims
Voice for Victims is a campaign aimed at promoting the rights of those affected by child sexual abuse.
This is Guernsey
Guernsey Press
What’s the bet that the anonymous bidder that paid £57,000 for the Mill on Wednesday is one of our former or current States members.
As a True Guernsey man, I believe that most of our current and past States members have been feathering their own nests for years.
Judging by the salaries that they are being paid currently this price is pure pocket money to them.
I wish I could get a salary of around £1000 per week or more for ruining the Islands constitution.
My bet by the way is £2 at £1million to one. After all it is only the price of a loaf of bread for me to eat for the week and if I’m lucky enough to win I will be able to buy my own house to leave to my kids.
Report abuse
Wow
We are actually having our questions answered. It is so refreshing. Who is the purchaser? No doubt he or she will be chirping at this revelation. What a sound investment. Who set the reserve price at what it was and what was it exactly? £50’000 I suspect but why exactly? How much would the mill be worth once it is developed? How much is it worth on the local market? A hell of a lot more than what it was sold for I bet. Why could it not be let out? What would the rental value be? This is just another demonstartion of our states members stripping us of our assets. The next states led auction will be well attended thats for sure. Maybe a six bedroom farmhouse for a price of a pint. To the lucky purchaser you must be smiling like a cat that has got the cream surely? Fair play to you. You won’t be complaining i’m quite sure of this!
Report abuse
>>‘unsafe and ignoring the need for repair was a health and safety issue and could have caused a further drain on States funds’<<
That singularly has to be the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard for idiotic planning. A better one might have been to roll Peter Rose out and get him to say ‘had the States not sorted the vale Mill out, the banks might leave’ – it was about as plausible as T&R’s witless excuse for ineptitude
Report abuse
I think we have reached the stage where we are going to have to demand a breakdown of our expenditure. Those that are responsible for this catalogue of errors need nameing and shameing. We desperately need to stop these individuals in their tracks before we are going to be forced into poverty by loose cannons that wish to meet their wishlists and eat in luxury at the same time. Actually we all want our cakes and then eat others. It would appear that we need to become a states member if we can even expect to get a decent sniff of a slice.
Report abuse
I wish people would read the details.
It doesn’t appear you can put services into the building or develop it into much more than a chilly viewing platform so you can’t turn it into a family home and sell it for £450k. Hence the low selling price – no-one really wanted it!
Yes, money was spent making it safe but had they not acted in 2006 I imagine the States would have been criticised for letting one of their buildings collapse into a house below.
They prob realised then it was a quirky building that had no use and would keep costing money to maintain. Better to spend £108k to make it safe, then sell for £57k rather than keep it and keep spending taxpayers money on it.
Therefore it cost £49k to make it safe and get rid of a drain on the coffers – which isn’t much these days.
Also the whole point of an auction is that the item is only sold for what a buyer is willing to pay.
Over all the years no-one managed to find a use for it so £57k is not bad.
Report abuse
Dan
You sound like the lucky purchaser? If so your very jammy. This property is an asset. No matter how you view it! Once developed will make a very fine property worth a small fortune. Services are easy to extend. How much would it cost to develope into a habitable state? How much would it then be worth. The profit margin after expenses would be a lot more than 57k I’m sure of this. It would even negate the refurbishment costs and add something to the pot. Why bother to sell it at all? There is a quarry at the rear. Were the twitchers offered use of it at all or even ever? Could the quarry be turned into a rich habitat for wildelife? Is it one already? If so this chilly viewing platorm may well have been a massive asset in becoming a well respected and recognised gift that the states had had the forefront to grasp. The schools and societies would benefit after all it is of an educational value. I am not a twitcher but it is just an observation. The media may have wished to flog it to death something positive for a nice change? Maybe the revenue from media companies would not benefit us then? Maybe the Princes Trust would lend it some recognition. It would have been a good hook thats for sure and made for good scoops when they are desperately needed in our current climate. I am only being speculative but it has been given away as a gift just like our Telecoms in my opinion. What next Guernsey Water? Start the bids at £250 lucky bidders I actually ment Ladies and Gentlemen? This Island is well known by the name ripoff Guernsey. It now appears as though we are content into mugging ourselves. We have to have fresh thinking. This is why our democratic process is on its knees. Lots of great minds tend to make better decisions to problems than one that has lost its way surely?
Report abuse