I hinted that this may well be the case when I wrote that the Crystal Road project could have a hidden bonus for one councillor, but the homework has now been done by a Philtheone.com reader who has shared their findings with me.
In March this year the council executive were asked to make a decision to compulsory purchase a property on Crystal Road comprising 3 flats and a maisonette; all going concerns. The council executive is made up of the following councillors:
- Peter Callow
- Maxine Callow
- Ian Fowler
- Tony Williams
- Lily Henderson
- Donald Clapham
All of these councillors were present at the meeting, apart from Ian Fowler. All present councillors declared an interest in this property in that they knew the vendor. And thus, the decision was approved.
I can confirm from Land Registry information that the property 25/27 Crystal Road was owned by both Ian and Susan Fowler and was compulsory purchased for £180,000. So that’s why Ian wasn’t at the meeting, that’s why the entire executive declared interest and one could suggest that that’s why it was approved so swiftly and has been kept rather quiet.
Taking a look at the valuation report done by Keppie Massey, it states that the property had a combined income of £20,020 per annum, but what’s this?
“We have not been provided with nor had sight of any leases but we understand that the flats are let by way of Assured Shorthold Tenancies reserved at the following rents:
Flat 1, £4420 per annum
Flat 2 (Maisonette), £6240 per annum
Flat 3, £3900 per annum
Flat 5, £5460 per annum”
How can this be just accepted? Surely this income formed the basis of the property valuation?
Now, my mission for you dear readers is to find someone on Crystal Road that can confirm whether or not anyone has actually lived in that property.
It has also been suggested to me by a property developer that £180,000 is way over the odds for that building. For a start, it has suffered and from its outside appearance looks like it continues to suffer subsidance despite the valuation report stating that it has been sorted as part of an insurance claim with Norwich Union. I’m no property expert but I would have thought this would have a detrimental effect on the value.
The intention is to convert the property back into two houses, and I’m informed that any private developer operating with much cheaper contractors than the council would struggle to make a profit doing this bearing in mind the purchase price. But the council soldiers on and is determined to blow thousands more pounds of taxpayers money on this lost cause and the only people in the whole town that seem to benefit from it are Ian and Susan Fowler.
In the pipeline there is a motion to take this to the district auditor, so I will keep you informed on how that progresses.
UPDATE: Cracks on the property which may indicate further subsidence.
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Phil you deserve a medal, this could bring down the council!!!
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shocked???? why????? the smell of corruption oozes, the higher you go the stronger it gets. in my opinion of course!!!!!!
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Phil are you saying that they have falseley inflated the value of the property by saying that there have been tenants with those leases, when in fact there have been no tenants?
If push comes to shove, all they do is get someone to say the have been renting off them with a dodgy book,mind you next stop is then the taxman, has this income been declared?
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Nope I’m not suggesting the Fowlers have done anything wrong at all. I am questioning the integrity of the valuation report that is based on, basically, nothing at all. All the things you have said could have happened of course, but I am not for one second suggesting that they have.
Wonder why they have employed a consultant to do the negotiating and not done it directly with Messrs Fowler? Because it would have looked even more dodgy!
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yes the consulatant could take the blame etc, he/she acts as a buffer,I just cant believe this can be allowed.
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Harold you are right…..about Phil.
Harold you are wrong …… it won’t bring the Council down.
The Tory councillors are all the same, they talk about improving and cleaning up the town and about cleaning up politics then cover up for each other and all raise their hands when Herr Callow tells them to.
Bunch of corrupt spineless wasters!
The only way to get rid of the Callow, Bell and Fowler twins is at the ballot box next May!
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I was being optimistic but surely this could be reffered to a standrads commitee etc?
What amazes me is how a council can use ratepayers cash to buy a serving councillors property???
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Was this CPO always in their mind when coming up with this scheme I wonder!
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Do you now refer these things to an internal council standards committee though? I thought the process had switched out of remoter governmental hands. Counterbalance will know.
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send your complaint to mark.lewis@blackpool.gov.uk He is the head of legal services.
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CPO?
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Compulsory Purchase Order. Basically, was the scheme dreamt up to satisfy the wishes of the Fowlers as well as being a pilot scheme? Were the Fowlers part of the team that came up with the idea of buying up property in this area? Were they involved in selecting it?
Basically, is it a self serving, snouts-in-the-trough scheme?
I’m confused though: if, according to the Keppie Massey report, it makes the Fowlers £20k p.a. why would they would let it go for £180k? The only reason I can think of is if in fact it doesn’t make them £20k p.a. any more and that’s why they were not able to supply any documentation to prove that it did. That, however, suggests a hint of impropriety and I am certainly not saying there has been any. It does suggest, though, that Keppie Massey base their valuations on nothing at all.
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Pritty nuts thats, get all the sweet info sent off.
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I always thought the idea was to buy out holiday accommodation that was failing and closed down and convert them into family homes,but to suggest that this was already converted into flats with a income suggests to me that it could have being made a success off. According to the valuation report that I have in my possession the property was producing a income of £20,020 after all a property that is in sound condition with a income in access of £20,000 would be worth £200,000 all day long,but lets not forget it would have meant that the owners would have to spend a great deal of money on the property to bring it up to standards. The report also goes on to say in its get out clauses, that unless expressly instructed we do not undertake structural surveys,or test any of the electrical,heating,or other services, how can you value a property that is showing signs of settlement will cracks on the gable walls without performing a full structural report,just taking the vendors word that the repairs have been carried out. After all a property showing signs of structural movement is only worth a fraction of the normal market price. What a easy cop out it would be if you could persuade your council colleagues to put the property up for CPO ( not that I am suggesting that this has been the case in this instance) and walk away with £180,000 clear,no HIP pack to pay for,no estate agent commission. I know that a surveyor from Kendricks estage agents were telling me that they had a lot of repossessed guest houses and hotel on there books and that they were renting them out as homes with income for not much more than you would pay to rent a semi detached property,as to try and sell them now with the market so depressed would mean a massive loss for the lenders,it seems that the lenders are prepared to take a small income from the property and wait for the markets to improve. I have had a look at this property on Crystal road and have noted that there are a lot of cracks showing on the gable wall rendering which suggests that there has been settlement on the property,whether this has been sorted or not I would not be qualified to say,but I am going to put the necessary complaints forward on this and perhaps a professional structural survey report would show whether the necessary work has being carried out to rectify the problem and whether the correct valuation was applied in this instance or whether the council had bought a lame duck for the price what you would expect to pay for a property in sound condition. I think the first thing port of call will be to arrange a meeting with Gordon Marsden to get his take on this as I am sure he can point me in the right direction and I will take all the paperwork that I have dug up on this property so far. I don’t think we could count on the support from other business on Crystal Road especially the ones that have received CPO compensation,given the generosity of our council with tax payers money. If CPO is to be used, surely it should be used to buy holiday accommodation that are already closed down and already on the market and submit offers like the private sector would do,at least that way we stand a chance of getting value for money. Lets see if they are as generous when it comes to buying property around Tylsley Road area.
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Sorry, it was not Kendricks surveyors who informed me about the dire situation with repossessed holiday accommodation, it was a surveyor from Bentley Higgs who was dealing with a offer I had submitted for a reposed property they had on there books.
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Nice one Dave, it is “crystal” clear now!
I have been down there this morning and added some pictures of the cracks on the property, and you’re right – there are plenty.
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It states on the decision notice that the council already own several properties on Crystal Road. Anyone know which ones they are?
I can’t find any information about it on the council website. Not a sniff!
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“Money and Corruption Are ruining the land Crooked politicians Betray the working man, Pocketing the profits And treating us like sheep, And we’re tired of hearing promises That we know they’ll never keep”
Best Regards
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Can anyone suggest any appropriate and targeted questions to ask Blackpool South MP Gordon Marsden about this issue?
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dont forget Paul maynard?
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Not in his constituency. Marsden has a surgery tomorrow morning so need questions. 1…2..3… GO HAROLD!
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good luck with gordon….i had cause to approach him several years ago and received several letters of …… i cant hear you, please just go away, we will block you on every opportunity…….that is naturally my own take on the responses received. although i had thought my voice was being listened to at the time of meeting.
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Go for it Phil but I doubt he will do anything, he is the most useless MP Blackpool has ever had. I bet the second he finishes his surgery he will be on the next train to Brighton. MARSDEN OUT NEXT ELECTION!!!!
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Can you tell the public how deep the disinfection of politics goes?
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Not really, it’s incomprehensible. But this is just playing two parties off against each other for perhaps a public win.
Although whether limp-wristed Marsden will do anything remains to be seen.
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ok!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8693832.stm
Our rail electrification may still be on the cards.
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Just to let you know I have a meeting with Gordon Marsden tomorrow regarding this saga at 4.00pm to see which direction we should take this complaint, being in opposition to the conservative party I would have thought he would be most interested in taking this on if he thinks there has been any fowl play. I would be interested if you could come up with some questions regarding this matter,I have already suggested a few to Phil that I am going to ask,but I am sure there are many others that I have not thought about. Maybe Phil could put some of the questions on here that I have already come up with in order for you to add to. One thing seems strange is that the gazette never made a story about it as I’m sure the electorate would be concerned about how the executive could declare personal interests in this that they all new the vendor of the property in question and then still be allowed to vote on the issue as to me I would have thought that this would be seen by the electorate to be a conflict of interest. I would have thought that it would have to go before a independent panel, but what do I know,hopefully I will get guidance tomorrow on this.
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What criteria must be met for a property to be CPO’d as part of this scheme?
Who makes the initial decision to open negotiations with a property owner?
Which properties have been purchased and how much were they purchased for?
Were Keppie Massey used to value all the properties and if not, who was?
Who selected Keppie Massey as valuers, given that they are an out-of-town company with little knowledge of the area?
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1) Was only one valuation sort for the property given that it gave rise to such conflicts of interest?
2) Was there written acknowledgement from Keppie Massey that the property suffered from subsidence in the past?
3) Given the possibility of structural condition problems, has the valuer aknowledged that documentation was obtained to certify that subsidence issues had been sorted as part of that insurance claim? And has it acknowledged the risk of such problems still being present?
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Phil I’ll email you with some property selling price info re Crystal Road (though I can only get to 31/03 sales without paying). There haven’t been many recent sales at all – Sheron Hall (another 2 number address) sold for £235k back in March 2006 though so unless this property is in fantastic condition and the Fowlers’ isn’t then £180k may well be a very fair price for the council to pay. Though as we all live round here we all know that subsidence cracks and how long ago the property was underpinned is rather essential information.
Also do we know if there were planning consent restrictions on the place?
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All property in 2006 was worth a lot more than it is now,the crash came when the two biggest mortgage lenders in America got into trouble,6 months later our banks had to be bailed out and property prices crashed, if you type in Zoopla you will find the most recent sales was in 2009 for £120,000,unless the property has been professionally under pinned and a structural report done to say so, then the new vendors would not be able to borrow money to buy the property until the work was carried out and you would struggle to get full insurance cover to cover all perils,the chap who came with me today owns and buys a lot of property in Blackpool and said that he would struggle to offer £120,000 without a structural report.
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I realise that property is worth less – but the cut from £235k to £180k IF (and it’s a very very big if) the properties are comparable makes up for the changes in the market generally. So if an outsider looks at it on paper it doesn’t look suspicious.
However if there is subsidence in this property (which has not been underpinned) and not Sheron Hall then there would be a massive difference in the property values. The property value for CPO looks very rough and ready it must be said – and since a vested interest is involved a proper valuation should have been obtained in the interests of fairness to the taxpayers of Blackpool. Of course the use of a valuer from outside the area that won’t understand our subsidence issues or the local market can hardly be seen as satisfactory. I get the feeling though that the council will concentrate on the first points, say the properties were in similar condition, say that an independent valuation was obtained and everything was ok and to investigate further would be a total waste of taxpayer funds.
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They could simply be cracks in the render. Until it is stripped back to the bare brickwork an honest opinion cannot be formed.
Not by us laymen with a few snaps anyway…..
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It is more than a few cracks I can assure you,at the very least I would say that the wall ties are all going to need replacing and there are definite signs of movement,but according to some of the hoteliers who I was talking to who are still trading on this road,they say the council has bought a few on this street that show signs of structural damage,seems to me that the valuers have a lot to answer for. Seems rather strange that they would use out of town valuers in the first place,who are not familiar with the property situation in Blackpool. The council should put these property’s up for auction,they would get a true value then, after all what ever they try and do with these property’s is going to make a huge burden and loss on the public purse, I would rather see them sold now at a loss to the private sector,as opposed to many more thousands of pounds of tax payers money been wasted on turning them into homes, that will still end up as social housing. Visiting local estate agents on Tuesday see if there is anything for sale on Crystal road,might be able to buy something cheap then sell it to the council on the CPO scheme,easy profit,sounds like a good plan of action to me.
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Well they are all built on sand. I have a couple of properties a few streets down (towards Pleasure Beach) and can see packed sand down in the basement of one.
The council have recently bought a whole block of properties under this scheme around the corner from me in Rawcliffe Street from the corner of Moore down to Bright Street
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At what point was the PULIC CONSULTATION ?
http://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/news/archive/5138-foxhall-development-sites-to-be-released.html
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Foxhall development sites to be released
15 Jan 2010, 10:27
Blackpool Council has appointed DPP Shape and Keppie Massie to help write a Foxhall Area Action Plan for the rundown part of the town centre.
The framework will suggest sites for redevelopment and schedule their release to market as part of a 15-year strategy to support regeneration in this area of the resort.
Foxhall is located south of Blackpool Tower with a Promenade frontage and is one of the oldest areas of the town. It was originally developed as a resort neighbourhood accommodating Blackpool’s visitors within a vibrant tourist “village”. However, the area’s hotels and guest houses have gradually diminished, leaving behind run down residential streets and low-quality tourist uses.
DPP Shape is tasked with producing concept design proposals for development sites and a public realm framework within a comprehensive plan. Keppie Massie will provide valuation and market advice.
Lyndsey Cookson at Blackpool Council said: “Blackpool Council has made good progress on the Foxhall AAP to date, and is committed to the regeneration of Foxhall and other resort areas. In order to progress the plan to the next stages we need to develop viable regeneration models based on creating a sustainable, thriving community whilst retaining important quality, tourist-related uses.”
Once this feasibility work has been completed, there will be further public consultation with residents in Blackpool expected during the first half of this year
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Good point Shoggy. Sadly rather than work with the people of Blackpool, it’s seen better by some to ignore them and pay expensive consultants.
The future success of Blackpool lies in working with the people of Blackpool, because what with the public sector cuts coming, it will be money raised locally that will actually see anything get built.
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I have asked a desk jockey in their Democratic Services department for information on the properties that have been purchased thus far (Freedom of Information) but the information is not forthcoming.
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They have to reply to your request within 20 working days,here is the link for information on Blackpool’s Freedom of Information requests.
http://www.blackpool.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/FC16D7C6-10D3-4B61-88ED-C74D414CDD6C/0/FOIPolicy.pdf
Lets hope that Gordon Marsden gets some positive information from London this week,. Soon as he gets back to me I will post it on hear, he felt that it did not serve in the best interest of the electorate for the executive to vote on this issue given that Fowler was one of the executive members himself. He told me to wait to here from him,before I send a complaint to the local district auditor as well as the standards committee. It seems strange how the gazette saw fit not to report on this issue, as I bet a lot of the readers would suspect fowl play.
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There are some get outs though (sorry to be negative again but you should know). These include commercial sensitivity (but the deals have been done as a counter-argument to that) and that the information isn’t readily available and it wouldn’t be reasonable to collate it.
Glad to see Gordon Marsden taking some interest in the subject. In St Annes Bob Dagnall had some success getting information about the Heeley Road “homeless hostel” shennagins (which he successfully got rejected) if this all comes to nothing.
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[...] I presume we’re all aware of the shroud of mystery engulfing Crystal Road. At the same meeting that this property was approved for [...]
Why has no one mentioned the Congestion Charge which was proposed a few years ago ?? Turned down as the traffic flowed okay. etc. etc. So why are they intent on a one lane town ? Congestion ! Bike lanes, explorer routes, who’s getting a pat on the back for this ? A new Las Vegas ! Bollocks..have these people seen that place, 6 lanes either side of the road, 6 lanes ! As for a stadium, why not the Council owned Stanley Park ? Oh no, can not do that, private investors only please. Ahhhh, the Airport, build it there, that place gets little use….build a few ‘cyclist explorer routes’ along side the runway maybe ! then over the sand dunes to St. Annes. St. Annes, what a great place, wide, smooth roads, no traffic lights or crossings on bridges ever for yards, no pavements sticking out into the road for some unsuspecting road user to go crashing over. Lytham ? How many traffic lights are in Lytham ? Blackpool ? 98 and rising. This one lane promenade idea does not allow for road closures, accidents, road works, public disturbances, fires, major incidents and these stupid firework displays which attract thousands of cars. BUT, during the many months which the promenade will be closed, one of the above happens, accident on Park Rd or Central Drive. Oh, I forgot, the ambulance crews are now using bicycles, good job we have the bike lanes. Woooooooooooooooooo
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Bike Lanes clogged with parked cars because the lines are “advisory”. So they drive on the pavements…which means the pedestrian, especially the disabled, walk in the road. Reason! The liability is on the car driver who owes a duty of care to everyone when driving her half ton child killer because she cannot walk because she is frail and cannot judge distances or speeds or think quickly enough to stop her invalid vehicle whilst speeding at 4.5 miles per hour because the local PC is busy making tea for the sexy Support Officer who prefers the uniform to the one he wore in the Message Parlour in Town Centre but has to get off duty early because he doubles in the line for Basil Newby’s latest hit and isn’t it all a load of Ed Balls?
Deep breath.
Councillors please. If it reads like a bag of scraps, it will end up as a bag of scraps.
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[...] Crystal clear over here! (Geddit [...]