BPB pay £160k to Sefton Council

[Gary]

From Liverpool Daily Post April 9 2009:

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2009/04/09/company-forced-to-pay-160-000-to-sefton-council-after-damage-left-at-pleasureland-in-southport-92534-23347865/2/

THE owners of Blackpool Pleasure Beach were forced to pay out £160,000 to a Merseyside council to avoid a High Court showdown, the Daily Post has learned.

The theme park operator was accused of ransacking a funfair after selling it to the borough.

Sefton Council sued Pleasureland Ltd, after claiming the Southport amusement park was left in a “dangerous” condition by the former owners.

The six-figure payout was agreed after the two sides went into mediation in January. It is understood Pleasureland Ltd did not accept liability for the damage.

The firm sold the site, on Princes Park, Southport, to Sefton for £7.25m, in 2007, after the company closed the park in September, 2006. But a dispute soon arose over the condition the site was left in.

The council issued a writ to Pleasureland Ltd and threatened court action.

Sefton claimed it had to spend around £350,000 to make the site safe and secure. It said a hole was left in the roof of one of the buildings after a crane was used to remove machines from inside. Light sockets were also ripped off the walls.

Shortly after news of the writ broke, Labour leader Peter Dowd said he was “shocked” at the damage.

It is thought the thrust of Pleasureland’s argument was that they had permission to remove items from the site for use at its Blackpool Pleasure Beach operation, and vigorously denied any wrongdoing in Southport.

It remains unclear how the £160,000 figure was arrived at.

A spokesperson for Sefton Council said: “A settlement has been reached between Sefton Council and Pleasureland Limited. We are unable to discuss any detail of this settlement publicly.”

Pleasureland Ltd declined to comment, saying it was a matter between them and Sefton Council.

The site is now set to undergo an £80m overhaul as part of the town’s seafront redevelopment.

Gary

[EAS]

Interesting. Thanks. But Sefton has a great deal of the blame to shoulder, IMHO.

[porterm]

Good to see some justice appears to have prevailed here, eventually, albeit very small in my humble opinion.

Martin

PS I guess BPB could be sitting rather smug now, being the solitary owners of a historic River Caves ride in light of recent Southport events.

[furie]

So... PBB Ltd. Got the land off Sefton for £1.5million or whatever it was back in the mid-nineties.

They then sell the land back, minus the rides (as much as they could get rid of) for £7.25 million.

Then Sefton manage to claim back £160,000.

So, all in all, PBB Ltd. only end up with about £6 million profit out of it all...

I don't think anyone other than the people in Sefton are hurting from this one...

[porterm]

Well stated there Furie (almost parodies recent political dealings/activities?) I obviously understated BPB Ltd's fine impact (didn't want to be too controversial really).

I think most people could probably evaluate the Southport Pleasureland events after park closure. Still all very sad though I felt, especially losing another woodie so unnecessarily in my opinion.

Martin