Today, Audit Wales published a letter they had sent to the Welsh Parliament’s Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee regarding Welsh Government’s purchase of Gilestone Farm.
The letter includes a number of comments that are critical of the way Welsh Government made the £4.25 million purchase of Gilestone Farm, including “in acquiring the property speculatively, the Welsh Government has accepted financial risks that would not have arisen if it had delayed a final purchase decision until after its full consideration of Green Man’s plans, and the suitability of Gilestone Farm for intended future uses, had been concluded”.
Additionally, the letter stated that selling the site may be an option if Welsh Government and Green Man can’t agree on a use for the site, but that “in the event of an onward sale, the Welsh Government may not be able to recover: The full purchase price, either due to market conditions or to separation of the site into separate lots, which are in total worth less than the whole site in a single lot.”
James said:
“This is an important letter from the Auditor General, and it raises some big concerns about the whole way this process was carried out by Welsh Government.
“The fact Gilestone Farm was bought, to use the Auditor General’s word, ‘speculatively’ is a damning indictment of the Labour Ministers in Cardiff Bay and their attitude to public money.
“We need a full, open process to examine this purchase and get to the bottom of how and why Gilestone was bought.”
