UPDATE (Thursday, 4pm): South Holland District Council is hoping to buy Moulton Park.
At a meeting of the full council on Wednesday, it was agreed that a bid to buy the 23 acres of land would be submitted before the closing date for tenders tomorrow (Friday, December 18).
If the bid were to be successful, the council would then negotiate with Moulton Parish Council over allocating land for a play area to be established.
The guide price for the park is £250,000.
(Thursday, 9am) Moulton Parish Council may have to rely on help from a third party to get a play area established in the village.
The council is interested in buying a small part of 23-acre Moulton Park, which suddenly came on the market earlier this month, but the vendor – Holbeach businessman Ashley King – has indicated no interest at this stage in a piecemeal sale.
The council had also asked for the closing date for tenders to be extended to enable more discussions on the possible purchase to be made, but that hope has also been dashed – the closing date remains tomorrow (December 18).
And furthermore, Moulton Poor Trust has said that it is not able to assist the council by buying land because it’s not within the charity’s constitution to do so.
It leaves parish councillors in the position of hoping to be able to buy or rent a piece of the park from the eventual buyer. There is also a chance that South Holland District Council might make a late bid. It is understood that its quota of public open space is below the expected level.
After last Monday’s second parish council meeting on the subject, clerk Helen Worth said: “The proposal is that the parish council will be putting in a bid for a small area of the park, but following our discussions with [land agent] Brown and Co, the intention of the vendor is not to split the park up.
“The parish council will be writing to Brown and Co with a bid for a small area but also showing their interest in negotiating with either the vendor or potential purchaser who may like to offer the parish council an area to buy or rent in order that a play area can be applied for.
“The parish council also agreed to write to the district council saying that it would support the district in putting in a bid.”
The parish council has earmarked £50,000 for the play area project.
A report in last week’s edition of a public meeting on the issue stated that parish council chairman Coun Jim Scarsbrook said council tax payers in Moulton have been funding play areas at Moulton Chapel and Moulton Seas End. However, they have only contributed towards the cost of the play area at Moulton Seas End and the playing field at Moulton Chapel. We apologise for the error.
It was also pointed out by one of the parish councillors that the Moulton Seas End facility was not maintained by the parish council.
