COUNCILLORS have said more investigations need to be done to see if it is actually worth them taking ownership of extra land at The Basins local nature conservation area in Wellington.

Wellington Town Council’s environment and open spaces committee agreed on March 21 to look more closely at a deal which could see the authority buy the land from the Crown Estate, who are legally looking after the popular nature reserve, for around £10,000.

But the “poison in the pill” – as one councillor described it – is that if they did that they could be left with an even bigger bill because of a damaged culvert, which channels the water safely, in The Basins which would need repairing; something the council would probably have to pay for in any case whether they owned the land or not because of public safety.

Cllr Marcus Barr said: “I would be in favour of not buying this land, but if something comes up we pay for it.

“I would rather be guardians where we pick and choose what we do.”

Cllr Barr reminded councillors that back in October 2019 the council went ahead with installing much-needed safety fencing either side of the causeway by the two large historic ponds at The Basins which were excavated in the early 1800s to provide a constant flow of water to power the Fox Brothers factory.

Councillors back then had mulled over whether to do the work or not as the council did not own the land in question and were therefore not responsible for it, despite the obvious safety concerns about people falling into the water.

But they finally decided to do the work when they were told that although the Crown Estate would not give the council official permission to carry out the fencing project, it would not necessarily take any action against the authority if it did. It would seem that nothing has really changed in Crown Estate’s stance.

Cllr Catherine Govier said: “I personally don’t think we should enter negotiations to take on the land. We have just taken on the Green Corridor land and we will have lots to do with that.

“I don’t see a benefit of taking on that land at The Basins, but as Cllr Barr has said we could do things there as and when needed.”

The Mayor, Cllr Mark Lithgow, said: “I was originally in favour of buying the land rather than leaving it with the Crown Estates, but now I’m not sure of there actually being any benefit of us having it.

“The Crown are the guardians of that land – although they aren’t doing anything with it.”

Cllr Chris Booth added: “I don’t think it’s really worth the effort having it.”

But Cllr John Thorne said: “I’m urging this committee that you progress with this and acquire the land. The benefits of having this land mean we have the ability to do something if we want to.”

Cllr Thorne referred back to what Cllr Barr had said about when the council installed safety fencing a few years ago at The Basins and described it as an “illegal act” and suggested that had there been an accident because of the fencing – the council would have been liable due to not owning the land.

“The more land down we can take on and bring into our guardianship the better,” he said. “Nobody is going to look after it if we don’t. There is a huge benefit to the community if we take this on.”

Cllr Barr responded: “The fencing was a health and safety issue and it was the right thing to do although we shouldn’t have done it legally.

“We have to take responsibility for the land, but we don’t have to own it. If anything goes wrong we just work with partners to put it right.”

Committee chairman, Cllr Mike McGuffie, said: “I agree with a lot of what Cllr Thorne has said.”

And Cllr Keith Wheatley added: “It’s not very often I support what Cllr Thorne says, but I am today! If that culvert at The Basins collapsed people would look to us to sort it out because although the Crown Estate are the owners, they aren’t going to repair it.

“We are being short-sighted about hypothetical risks because they (the culvert repair job) might be pushed our way in any case.

“I think we should be looking to negotiate buying from the Crown Estate.”

The Mayor, Cllr Mark Lithgow, said: “What concerns me is spending taxpayers’ money and taking on a known liability – that damaged culvert. We’ve been told not to touch it with a barge pole!”

And Cllr McGuffie added: “I’m really concerned that the public will think it’s all of our responsibility. The poison in the pill is the culvert, but somebody has to take responsibility.”

It was agreed to defer the matter until more information was gained about the costs involved in the culvert – which if it collapsed could see serious flooding problems in that area.

Cllr Andrew Govier said: “The Crown Estate is quibbling over little bits of land at The Basins, but we need to find out about what would happen and the costs involved if the culvert collapsed.

“There are things we need to get to the bottom of first before making any decisions, but paying £10,000 to take on a very expensive liability is a strange way to go.”