Garage sales could raise £2 million

TOWN Hall chiefs at Warrington are to be asked to mount a full public consultation over the future of more than 840 garages and garage plots which could realise more than £2 million if sold.
The borough council currently receives an income of around £27,000-a-year from the properties – but this barely covers the cost of repairs and management
Officers have put forward a number of options for the future of the properties, including selling them, retaining them as garage sites, using them for affordable housing developments, allotments or gypsy/travellers sites.
A report to be considered by the council’s executive board states there are 709 garage plots across Warrington but only 272 are currently let.
In addition, there are 143 garages – of which only 52 are let.
At the end of March, there were rent arrears of about £14,000 relating to the properties.
The report indicates that some residents, whose homes overlook garage sites, have extended their gardens into the garage site without permission. Some garage sites are subject to fly-tipping.
Many garages are used for storing property rather than cars – and some may be being used for business purposes.
The executive board will be asked to authorise a full community consultation and request a report, with recommendations on the future of the garages and garage plots following the consultation.

Follow @warringtonworld

paralegal on 13th October 2011 8:03 pm 8:03 pm

Who are the people in the Town Hall, chiefs and/or lesser mortals, who have been mismanaging an asset “which could realize more than £2 million” for the borough? The figures, if accurate, should be a cause for concern, financially as well as for those allegedly managing the asset, because they clearly are not up to the job. Of 709 plots less than a third brings in any income; only 52 garages out of 143 produce any income. Overall this asset currently produces a yearly income of £27,000, but rent arrears stand at £14,000. With rentals at £8/week/garage the income potential from garages should be nearer £59,500. It would be interesting to know plot rental charges, because it might push up the overall income potential significantly. However, present shortfall in income is hardly surprising. Several of those who rent say many garages leak like sieves because no maintenance has been carried out for years – yet another management failing. How long has this state of affairs been ongoing without even rudimentary checks being made into its viability or the competence of those in charge? It seems to be another case of it’s someone else’s money so out of sight out of mind. More worrying for the people of Warrington is that this situation has only recently come to light.

Do those who are supposed to be managing these garages and plots, have a full and accurate inventory of just how many garages and plots the borough actually owns? I ask because the proposal for a full community consultation suggests they don’t. Could it be that some or all of these records were also destroyed in the mass statutory document trashing exercise carried out in order to provide more space in which to store more statutory documents? Alternatively, with so much empty garage or plot space at the Council’s disposal was any thought given to utilizing for document storage? Or was that mass document culling carried out with another purpose in mind?

Some of the suggested options for future use of these sites from unnamed officers makes for interesting or appalling reading, depending on your point of view.

5 Comments

paralegal on 13th October 2011 8:03 pm 8:03 pm

Who are the people in the Town Hall, chiefs and/or lesser mortals, who have been mismanaging an asset “which could realize more than £2 million” for the borough? The figures, if accurate, should be a cause for concern, financially as well as for those allegedly managing the asset, because they clearly are not up to the job. Of 709 plots less than a third brings in any income; only 52 garages out of 143 produce any income. Overall this asset currently produces a yearly income of £27,000, but rent arrears stand at £14,000. With rentals at £8/week/garage the income potential from garages should be nearer £59,500. It would be interesting to know plot rental charges, because it might push up the overall income potential significantly. However, present shortfall in income is hardly surprising. Several of those who rent say many garages leak like sieves because no maintenance has been carried out for years – yet another management failing. How long has this state of affairs been ongoing without even rudimentary checks being made into its viability or the competence of those in charge? It seems to be another case of it’s someone else’s money so out of sight out of mind. More worrying for the people of Warrington is that this situation has only recently come to light.

Do those who are supposed to be managing these garages and plots, have a full and accurate inventory of just how many garages and plots the borough actually owns? I ask because the proposal for a full community consultation suggests they don’t. Could it be that some or all of these records were also destroyed in the mass statutory document trashing exercise carried out in order to provide more space in which to store more statutory documents? Alternatively, with so much empty garage or plot space at the Council’s disposal was any thought given to utilizing for document storage? Or was that mass document culling carried out with another purpose in mind?

Some of the suggested options for future use of these sites from unnamed officers makes for interesting or appalling reading, depending on your point of view.

Sha on 14th October 2011 7:41 am 7:41 am

So now we have the real reason why the garage plots and open spaces were not included when the Council’s housing stock was transferred to Golden Gates Housing Trust? Suggestion……Why don’t Town Hall chiefs at Warrington mount a full public consultation over the future of more than 840 garages and garage plots which could vastly improve the quality of life in the more deprived areas of the town if kept in public ownership?

council tax payer on 14th October 2011 9:07 pm 9:07 pm

If this wasn’t so serious we could have a good laugh. It seems, yet again, that the Management at WBC is falling well short in its responsibility to its Council Tax Payers! Who is exactly responsible for this debacle? Are we going to be told? What are our “elected” representatives going to do about it? As before, they will probably give the “offenders” a pat on the back plus a 9% pay rise. When is the Chief Executive and her Directors going to give some leadership to WBC. This is another example of being completely out of their depth. Are we going to get a full “independent” enquiry into this matter along with the full “independent” enquiry promised following the destruction of planning records? I think not, or the enquiry would have started by now. Once more we are being taken for a ride by well paid officers who are not up to the job. Someone please take action to prevent further recklessness.

paralegal on 15th October 2011 2:08 pm 2:08 pm

Is it not strange that none of our elected members, who are usually alert and respond to the comments on WW, has bothered to comment on the sad state of affairs with the garages and plots or, as you might expect, yet another example of mismanagement of the borough’s activities? Surely they are concerned or are they?

Maisey Dotes on 18th October 2011 8:26 pm 8:26 pm

Some of the back gardens of houses along Ellesmere Road and Heswall Avenue, Culcheth, overlook one of these garage sites. A few back gardens have been extended into the garage site, almost certainly without permission, I would guess, judging by what they have done. The lengthened gardens now block off the maintenance access strip which ran along the backs of the garages. This may be one of the reasons for the lack of maintenance mentioned in the report, but that does not excuse the lack of maintenance. Levels of the extended gardens are higher than the garage floor levels, so much so some garages now leak like sieves due to this and other reasons. The garages were never meant to hold back wet soil, they are made from preformed concrete units bolted together. This situation has been made worse by some residents putting up their own Heath Robinson systems of guttering to the garage roofs, which previously shed rain on to the access strip.

As reported in the WW article fly tipping was a problem on the site until quite recently. There is little doubt a few garages are being used for business and other purposes than storing cars. This is a pity, because if proper use were made of the site, it might ease the parking problem that is an unacceptable feature of Ellesmere Road.