Cllr. Maggie Wright raised the following question to Cllr. Nigel Grundy, Neighbourhood Services & Assets Portfolio Holder:

“At full council on 19 November 2024 the council approved the disposal of land at Holt Crescent allotments to Thurlaston Parish Council. Some tidying up of the site has taken place in preparation for transfer. However, to date, a year on, no communication has been received by Thurlaston Parish Council to complete this transfer.

1.    Why is the transfer taking so long?

2.    Why has there been no communication with the Parish Council regarding the legal transfer?

3.    What now is the expected timeframe for this simple disposal being completed?

Cllr. Nigel Grundy, Neighbourhood Services & Assets Portfolio Holder, responded:

“Can I thank Cllr Wright for her question, a number of pieces of land were approved for disposal in November 2024, in relation to Holt Crescent Allotments, Councillor Wright will be aware that  before a transfer of the site could take place a number of remedial actions were required much of which required seasonal consideration. For this site the actions required were as follows:

·         The advertisement of the site in a public notice as required by the Local Government Act 1972.

·         Tree surveys

·         Removal of dangerous trees with consent required with adjoining landowner for access.

·         Asbestos removal by specialist company.

Following completion of the above the legal team instructed external solicitors (Pathfinder) to act on behalf of BDC in July. Pathfinder Legal have regretfully not carried out the legal instruction to our satisfaction, including failing to make contact with the Parish Council to advise that they had been instructed until very recently. This has been a frustrating experience for all involved and we regret any impact that the lack of progress may have had on Thurlaston Parish Council. I would like to reassure you that we have terminated instructions with Pathfinder and instructed new external solicitors who have a solid track record and resources to progress the transfers in what we expect to be a much timelier manner going forward. Whilst it is not possible to commit to a timeframe for completion of this transfer I can reassure you that a much stricter regime is now in place to monitor progress on this matter.”

Cllr. Maggie Wright asked the following supplementary question:

“I’d like to thank Cllr. Grundy for his response. I’d also like to thank him for emailing the Thurlaston Parish Council Clerk and myself yesterday afternoon apologising for the delay and giving assurance that a much stricter regime is now in place to monitor the transfer. This communication was really appreciated and welcomed so thankyou. The subsequent question is that this has been about poor communication - Who is the dedicated Case Officer within Blaby District Council that either the clerk or myself can now contact if the new outsourced solicitors do not progress the transfer, or if we have any problems?”

The Executive Director (Communities) & Deputy Monitoring Officer responded that Cllr. Maggie Wright should contact her directly to address any further issues to ensure a swift response.