* The fate of the former River Lodge has been questioned by llanblogger.
Llangollen’s derelict River Lodge is not for sale on the open market, with
the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) having an option to buy the property from the
Welsh Government.
These two facts are confirmed in the response to a Freedom of
Information request submitted last month by llanblogger.
The lodge – also known as the former Woodlands Hotel – on the A539, has
been at the centre of a long-running row over its future.
And it has most recently been mentioned as the possible site for a new
health centre where some of the services lost by the imminent closure of the
town’s Cottage Hospital could be relocated.
Through the now
defunct Welsh Development Agency, the Welsh Government bought the building on
the banks of the River Dee at the gateway to the town in 2007.
Sole purpose of the
deal was to facilitate a community project by Powys Fadog.
But the development
never went ahead and following a series of vandal attacks the property now lies
empty and derelict after costing the taxpayer a considerable amount of money.
The saga has
sparked major criticisms of the part played by the government and led last year
to the publication of a critical report by the independent Welsh Audit Office.
That report described
the government’s decision to purchase River Lodge as“flawed” and said it had
“represented poor value for money”.
Two sessions of the Welsh Assembly’s powerful
public accounts committee – one held in Llangollen Pavilion last October – have
since taken evidence on the circumstances of the acquisition and attempts to
dispose of the property.
In our FoI request, llanblogger asked the following
questions:
1.
Is the property still in the ownership of the
Welsh Government?
2.
Is the
property currently up for sale or disposal by any other means?
3.
Is the
Welsh Government currently in negotiation with any party, private or
corporate, regarding the acquisition of the property?
4.
If up
for sale, what is its current asking price for the property and how does this compare
to the sum originally paid for it by the former Welsh Development Agency?
5.
Is the
Welsh Government currently in negotiations with the Betsi Cadwaladr
University Health Board about the property's potential sale to the
board?
6.
If
negotiations are taking place between the Welsh Government and the Betsi
Cadwaladr University Health Board, at what stage are these
negotiations?
In the reply, received today (Monday), a Welsh Government official
says: “For
question 1, I can confirm that the property is still in the ownership
of the Welsh
Government.
“For your remaining questions, I can advise that the property is not up
for
sale on the open market and as such there is no open market asking
price.
“The Welsh Government has recently entered into an option agreement
with Betsi
Cadwaladr University Health Board for them to
purchase the site.”
This is confirmed by a notice on the Welsh
Government website from August 2012, whixch says: “The Minister for
Business, Enterprise, Technology and Science has been asked to approve the
granting of an Option for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board to purchase
River Lodge, Llangollen, the property having been offered to the public sector
in accordance with the National Asset Transfer Protocol.”
Llanblogger is
currently awaiting a response to a seperate FoI request submitted to the Betsi
Cadwaladr University Health Board last month about its intentions for River
Lodge.
