I read with incredulity the article on empty council properties in Melksham together with business rates in your paper last week.
The comment by Terry Chivers only goes to reinforce the perspective of a local councillor who regularly complains and never looks at achieving positive results for the residents of Wiltshire.
The facts are that like all other businesses we get a 50 per cent rebate on business rates so the Chivers figures are wrong.
Turning to the sites mentioned, by not using Canberra Youth Centre and leaving it empty, the council is saving over £50,000 per annum. With regards to Shurnhold, the fact is that had the council sold the site at the point when it ceased to be a school (and when the property market was quiet) then the sales return would have been unimpressive. By shrewdly holding out for just a few years until the market has recovered, the council is set to receive several million pounds more into the hard-pressed council coffers which benefit all Wiltshire residents and the annual rates bill is thus far outweighed by additional sales returns.
The facts and finances speak for themselves.
- but Terry Chivers has never been one for letting the facts get in the way of a good story!
Cllr Jonathon Seed, Cabinet Member for Housing, Leisure, Libraries and Flooding Chairman, Melksham Area Board Member for Summerham and Seend, Wiltshire Council.
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