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Planning Permission: Gleadthorpe Farm

Volume 474: debated on Monday 31 March 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many bids were received for the former ADAS site at Gleadthorpe, Nottinghamshire; who the successful bidder was; what plans are being made to return the site to native heathland; and if he will make a statement. (196337)

[holding answer 26 March 2008]: The Department received six bids by informal tender for Gleadthorpe Grange Farm.

The Department has given very careful consideration to the value for money to the public purse of each proposal received, including the financial, environmental and biodiversity benefits of the individual bids. The Department has also considered whether the benefits of any particular offer provided enhanced value or efficiency in terms of policy delivery when compared to normal spending programmes.

Detailed consideration was given to the value for money offered by a proposal which would have seen the land returned to forestry. The Department concluded that insufficient quantifiable efficiencies arose in excess of those offered by the use of normal spending methods, and as a consequence, the Department felt unable to progress this proposal further.

The Department concluded that the maximum economic value should be accepted in the case of this disposal.

For reasons of commercial confidence and contractual negotiation, the Department is unable to identify the preferred bidder at this time. The details of the successful purchaser will become a public record at the Land Registry upon completion of the sale.

It is understood the land will remain in agricultural use.