Council gets tough over 'Mt Crushmore'

11:20am Thursday 8th May 2008

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THE time has come for the owners of Mount Crushmore in Trowbridge to put up or ship out after West Wiltshire District Council backed a compulsory purchase order plan.

The former Tesco site in St Stephen's Place is owned by Thiyan Investments.

Their agent, Frank Mountain, has been promising to develop the site since the company purchased it several years ago.

The district council gave Thiyan planning permission and offered assistance at every turn but Mr Mountain's numerous promises to transform the site into shops, a restaurant, bar and gym have been consistently broken.

Last night district councillors voted unanimously in favour of pursuing a compulsory purchase order action on the site.

The cost to the council in legal fees is likely to be about £3,000, depending on the length of the inquiry.

Council officers will now search for a developer who will purchase the land from the council as soon as the purchase order has been approved.

The hope is that the new developer will move the site forward.

Ian Gallin, corporate director, said: "There are a number of developers looking at St Stephen's Place and Castle Street at any one time."

Cllr Graham Payne, leader of the council said: "I do not need to spell out what the population of Trowbridge think about Mount Crushmore.

"As councillors, we have all had experience of people coming up to us and asking how long it will be before the mountains of rubble disappear.

"We have been patient with the developers of the site and more than helpful.

"The people of Trowbridge have a very low opinion of the owners of this site."

Cllr Jeff Osborn said: "What we are dealing with here is a rogue developer, it seems. People have finally got the message that it is through no fault of the council that this site has languished for so long."

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Mountain said: "I am surprised. I didn't know anything about it. I'm pretty annoyed by the attitude of the council.

"We've been trying to get a meeting with them in the last few weeks because we've got new plans for the site.

"It's a mixed housing and retail offering centred around a care home. We think it works brilliantly on the site. We're in delicate discussions with partners. We could have a planning application in within eight weeks.

"The last scheme was made difficult because the council gave planning permission to other developers on nearby sites.

"There's only so many retail companies that want to come to Trowbridge and with the difficult market conditions it meant we could not get the retail tenants."