A SECOND attempt is being made to sell an unwanted Somerset Council property in Wellington with its price slashed to help ease its financial crisis.

The council has been in a ‘financial emergency’ on the brink on bankruptcy since November, 2023, and has been holding a fire sale of assets to raise funds.

It put up for auction in early December a redundant property at 55 North Street, Wellington, with a guide price of £250,000, the minimum sum it was prepared to accept.

But after it failed to sell, a second auction has been arranged for February 27 with a reduced guide price ‘in the region of’ £200,000.

An aerial view of the North Street, Wellington, site (outlined in red) which Somerset Council is trying to sell at auction. PHOTO: GTH.
An aerial view of the North Street, Wellington, site (outlined in red) which Somerset Council is trying to sell at auction. PHOTO: GTH. ( )

An opportunity to purchase the building was offered to Wellington Town Council, which declined to take it up.

The stone-built property was last used as a temporary public library for several months in 2024 while a £1.3 million refurbishment of the library’s Fore Street premises was completed.

It is a grade two listed building and has previously been an over-60s club and a centre for the health and wellbeing lifestyle charity WHERE.

Marketing is being carried out by property specialist Greenslade Taylor Hunt (GTH), which said the 0.29-acre site represented ‘a number of redevelopment opportunities’ with ‘new build potential to the rear’, subject to appropriate planning permission being obtained.

GTH partner Graham Ford said: “This structure we believe would readily convert to a fairly large three to four-bedroom, detached property.

“The rear portion of the site comprises an open parking forecourt with a single-storey flat roof building which could easily be demolished to create space for an additional new build construction.”

Mr Ford said there was a public footpath running through the site which connected North Street with Lodge Close, and a vehicle right of way from the rear entrance off Lodge Close serving two adjoining residential properties.

He said: “Demolition of the single-storey building together with surrounding parking areas would immediately open up the site for at least two building plots, perhaps more.

“A route could easily be preserved through the site for the public footpath, however, we would need to fully identify the extent of the vehicle right of way in favour of two infill properties that have been built on the eastern boundary.”

Mr Ford said there had not yet been any planning applications submitted for the site.

He said the £200,000 ‘guide price’ was given to help potential buyers decide if they were interested, while a ‘reserve price’ below which the auctioneer cannot sell had not yet been fixed.

Mr Ford said: “The reserve price is not disclosed and remains confidential between the seller and the auctioneer.

“Both the guide price and the reserve price can be subject to change up to and including the day of the auction.”

The auction will be held in The Shrubbery Hotel, Ilminster, and more information on the property can be obtained from Graham Ford or George Williams by calling 01823 334466 or emailing [email protected] or [email protected].