Castleford Poundstretcher building: Council says offer to sell derelict store for £500,000 ‘still too high’

But the local authority has rejected the proposal, saying it is “too high a price to pay with public money.”

The council desperately needs to buy the derelict Carlton Street building as part of a major town centre regeneration scheme.

It is understood an agreement was in place to buy it from owner Bartonvale Ltd for £300,000, which the council says is three times the market value.

But the deal fell through two months ago amid claims that the asking price had more than tripled to almost £1m.

Bartonvale has hit back at comments by civic leaders that Castleford residents are being “held to ransom” over the deal.

A spokesperson for the company confirmed that it wants £500,000 for the sale.

They said: “The market value of £100,000 is the figure quoted by the council and unsurprisingly reflects an extremely negative view of the asset, with our own view being that its value is significantly higher.

“It is also worth mentioning that the timescale of the whole purchase process was never adhered to by the council.

“Delay after delay ensued until we reached the current juncture.

“Notwithstanding this, the figure of £500,000 remains on the table and we are prepared to do the deal today, tomorrow or next week.

“Given that the property has been vacant for five years, despite our best efforts in terms of marketing, it seems inconceivable that the council’s modus operandi would not have been to contact us with a view to working together to turn its fortunes around.

“Surely it is normal and eminently sensible practice for a local authority to work alongside private investors in order to secure a mutually beneficial resolution for both parties and of course the local population.”

When the sale fell through in March, Castleford MP Yvette Cooper and Michael Graham, the council’s cabinet member regeneration, issued statements saying taxpayers were being “held to ransom”.

Mark Lynam, the council’s corporate director for regeneration and economic growth, also said: “It is not fair to use the public purse as a cash cow.”

Responding to the criticism, the Bartonvale spokesperson said: “Considering that Yvette Cooper has been elected to serve the local population we would have hoped that she could have positioned herself as some form of broker here, trying to bring together both parties in order to do what is best for Castleford .

“Yet at no stage has she sought to contact us to try and see if there was anything that could be done to improve the situation and indeed has added fuel to the fire by her inflammatory social media content.

“Rather than laying accusations at the door of the landlords without any evidence or knowledge to back up these claims, it must have made more sense to reach out to us to work through this from a united front.”

The council was awarded £24m of government Town Deal funding for Castleford in 2019.

A series of “strategic acquisitions” has already been made by the council as a strict 2026 deadline to complete the project looms.

It is hoped the town’s revamp will involve creating two of Yorkshire’s ‘premier public spaces’.

Negotiations with land and property owners in Castleford have been ongoing for almost three years.

The Bartonvale spokesperson added: “It is not our intention to portray ourselves as community heroes as we do not deny that we are commercial operators.

“Whilst we are more than conscious of the needs of the local people, we also seek to achieve a fair value for our asset.

“(The council) has sat on years of decaying assets with no willingness to enter into any proposals other than their own agenda.”

In response, Mr Lynam said: “We’re aware of the company’s views in relation to the situation and reject their allegations.

“Residents want this eyesore demolished and we’re here to do the right thing for the people of Castleford.

“We have at all times acted with openness and transparency.

“The owner has now put a price of half a million pounds on the building.

“This is five times higher than the valuation from an independent third party, making it still too high a price to pay with public money.

“We’ve explained this to the owner and his agents.

“We remain ready and willing to discuss any proposals that reflect reasonable and justifiable compensation.”

Ms Cooper said: “The Poundstretcher building is a total eyesore which has been left to go to rack and ruin, letting Castleford down.

“It needs to come down as quickly as possible.

“The owners should stop complaining about everyone else and get back round the table with the council and agree a reasonable deal.”