Council leader admits £1m pub deal was 'cock-up'

A failed Cornwall Council £1m property deal which saw a former pub sold for 72% less than its purchase price was a "cock-up", the authority's leader has admitted.

The council bought the General Wolfe in St Austell in 2020 through its Corserv arm's-length company, planning to turn it into temporary housing.

But, after sitting empty for years and falling into disrepair, the building was sold at auction at a loss of £725,000.

Leader Leigh Frost told a council meeting that the authority had to "accept that this one was a cock-up", also saying "we know what happened, we know why it happened, we know how it happened" and that the council had "learnt the lessons".

The Grade II listed building, which became protected in 1999, also became a hotspot for anti-social behaviour while it stood empty.

Plans to redevelop it became increasingly unrealistic as costs soared, with estimates climbing to more than £2.5m for the accommodation scheme by last summer.

At the same meeting, Reform UK councillor Jack Yelland questioned how the purchase was approved and whether proper checks had been carried out before spending taxpayers' money, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service..

He suggested the failure to carry out a full feasibility study may have played a bigger role in the loss than inflation, the Covid-19 pandemic or the building's deterioration.

Frost said an investigation would not change the outcome.

He said: "The reality is if we do an investigation we won't get a different answer.

"We know what happened, we know why it happened, we know how it happened. So reinvestigating something we already know is a waste of our time and money.

"You're damned if you do, you're damned if you don't; because we can waste money going back over the same old ground and learning nothing, or we can look forward, accept that this one was a cock-up – that's the way it is, these things happen – and we move forward and make sure it never happens again.

"We've learnt the lessons but doing another investigation into it will not bring a different result."

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