Law firm investigating council land sale ‘blunder’ which cost taxpayer £2.6m

Wakefield Council has confirmed lawyers have been instructed to look into failings which almost led to the closure of a swimming pool, a school and a sports centre in Featherstone.

It was revealed in January how the local authority paid a developer £1.2m so the facilities could stay open.

At the time, council leader Denise Jeffery asked chief executive Andrew Balchin to investigate as opposition councillors demanded answers.

The inquiry has since been handed over to law firm Bevan Brittan.

Lawyers have been asked to complete the probe by March next year.

It is nine months since the council agreed to pay Orion Homes to carry out work so Featherstone Sports Complex and Featherstone Academy could remain open.

The company is building houses next to the leisure centre on land bought from the council.

In April 2022, tanks and a drainage area which serve the leisure centre and swimming pool were discovered on the construction site.

Orion informed the council that they planned to remove them.

A full survey then revealed that the site also contained gas and water mains pipes serving the school, leisure centre and swimming pool.

The council spent more than £500,000 on a “temporary drainage solution” before giving Orion £1.2m to carry out “rectification works”.

The costs are expected to be funded by borrowing, with estimated interest charges of £57,000 a year.

Over 25 years, the total cost to the council is expected to be around £2.6m.

In a statement, Mr Balchin said: “An investigation is being carried out by law firm Bevan Brittan.

“The leader of the council instructed that this was to start as quickly as possible, and we have asked for it to be completed before the end of this financial year.”

In June, Coun Jeffery said a completed report would be put before a full council meeting and the audit and governance committee for debate.

At that time, Coun Jeffery said the investigation was ‘taking longer than anticipated’, adding: “It is hard to be definite how long that will take but it really does need to be sped up.

“A thorough review is more important than speed though.”

“But people will be held to account if we find out what has happened.

“As soon as we find out we will be reporting fully.

“We are not covering anything up on this.”

Opposition councillors demanded answers when the costs to the taxpayer were revealed earlier this year.

Tom Gordon, Lib Dem group leader at the time, said: “The council must issue an unreserved apology and explain to residents what services and projects will now fall by the wayside because of a blunder.”

Former Tory leader Tony Hames referred to it as “money being poured literally down the drain in Featherstone” when the issue was debated in the council chamber.

Tony Homewood, independent councillor for Ossett, said: “While I accept that the problem was not her (Coun Jeffery’s) fault personally, there are people in this council whose fault it was.

“Somebody needs to see some heads rolling.”