STC/DUWC Patchwork Row property deal explained
If you don’t know what is all about you should read the previous article about it and then come back to this. The previous article is here:
As I wrote in the first article: (this case) “needs more investigation because the wording of that note in (STC meeting) minutes sounds… ambiguously.” I was right. Everything about this “deal” is ambiguous.
Most information I got came from Freedom of Information request I directed to STC, but I also was lucky enough to receive one passive-aggressive e-mail from DUWC. Let’s begin with STC answers.
LEGAL SENSE
Question: Has the property changed its owner in the legal sense?
STC answer: Yes.
Our comment: OK. In that case, there should be some written confirmation of it, right?
PAPERWORK
Question: Is there any written agreement about “handing over” property?
STC answer: No.
Our comment: Is that even legal??? Can Council just give away Taxpayer property without any written agreement? I don’t know. To be honest after passive-aggressive message from DUWC and after an attack on our page and Facebook accounts that happen after the publication of the first article- we decided to stop digging. Town gave away property for free without any tries to make money out of it. That is it. Shut up about it! (That’s how I received the subtext in DUWC e-mail)
HANDED OVER
Question: What “handed over” exactly means?
STC Answer: Ownership and responsibility of the portacabin has been transferred to the DUWC
Our comment: Transferred. For “free”. To EU funded organisation. Labour style.
WAS IS REALLY FOR FREE???
Question: How much money did STC get from that deal (if it was sold or rented)?
STC answer: Zero
Our comment: Remember when STC raised the local tax by 9.5% in 2020? Remember when STC raised the local tax by 4.8% in 2019? Remember when STC raised the local tax by 4.2% in 2018? Remember when STC raised the local tax by 4.2% in 2018? (22.7% tax rise in 4 years- Labour style!) Remember when Shirebrook247 revealed that BDC pays the highest wages for Councillors in the UK? Labour Party knows how to care for few- but not you. For a few zero charge and thousands in wages but for you: tax rise every damn year! Enjoy!
WHO MADE DECISION?
Question: Who made the decision to transfer ownership of the building? If the decision was made by vote- was there anyone who opposed it?
STC answer: The Council made the decision and I don’t recall any opposition when it was debate.
Our comment: 100% STC is the Labour Party. Of course, there was no opposition- I knew that at the moment of asking the question. I asked it anyway just to show my readers how desperately our Town needs someone else than Labour in Council.
HOW MUCH IT WAS WORTH?
Question: What is the market valuation of this property?
STC answer: There is no market value of the property. (…) The Town Council would have been responsible for the substantial removal costs of the structure had the DUWC not requested its use.
Our comment: EVERYTHING cost something. Only a socialist can claim that stuff is “free” or have “no value”. But I get it: Shirebrook is broke and bleeding money at a terrifying rate. Offer from DUWC was like a godsend for the Council. We “saved” money on removal cost…
WHY DUWC?
Question: Why DUWC was chosen and not other charity organisation?
STC Answer: DUWC approached us to enquire what we would be doing with the portacabin once we had constructed the Town Hall. We explained that the land was not ours and that we would be required to remove and dispose of the portacabin. They approached the landowner and ourselves shortly after to ask if they could take ownership of the portacabin and keep it on site thus saving the Town Council costs of removal.
Our comment: So building was owned by STC but the land was owned by BDC. I’m not saying that close ties between DUWC and Labour Party officials helped to strike that deal but somehow I doubt if I (or anyone else) approach BDC and STC we would get the same sweet deal… It’s kinda funny- STC could try to sell portacabin but they didn’t even try and BOOM- DUWC came out of nowhere and claim it. Really convenient… but also…kinda suspicious…
ONE MORE THING ABOUT DUWC
I mentioned an e-mail from DUWC. I don’t know the position of the person who replied on my e-mail but it was really disturbing in tone and subtext. Basically, this person upholds my position that DUWC is “special” and that is why they deserve this property without any need to explain why. On top of that they “helped” a lot of migrants from Poland so I should appreciate that. Well- I DONT!
When you help someone who refuses to learn the language of the country he lives in- you actively tear apart the fabric of society. You create a cast of people who live outside of society, in their own ghettos, with their own rules. You not helping them- you make them dependent on your services, you make them weak. You deny them the opportunity to overcome problems themselves and build self-confidence to approach new problems with the ambition to conquer them without any help. You create an environment where they don’t feel the need to learn the language and adapt to the way of life of local people. You refuse them an opportunity to integrate. Simply- by solving their problems you harm immigrants and British society at the same time.
If you can’t speak English- learn. If you can’t learn- you should move out or face the reality of being poor and on margins of society forever. ITS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO IMPROVE AND INTEGRATE. Its simply really- you cant achieve success if you don’t understand what is going on around you.
I assume DUWC did some positive work in the community when the town was on the bottom and there were many unemployed people. But nowadays, thanks to Sport Direct, the town is in an economic boom and there is literally not a single long term unemployed person in Shirebrook. So why they need whole building for themselves? Wouldn’t it be better to make the building available to several active charities in town so that they can share the cost of its maintenance and at the same time create a hub for such organisations in the town?
At this point, I decided to end my investigation. I will not follow leads directing to BDC. I will not risk further contacts with DUWC. I’m putting this case into a big bag named “Labour mismanagement of Shirebrook” and move on to the next case. And it’s big one- lawyer already involved… Details in a few days so don’t forget to check out our website periodically or like us on Facebook- we are posting a link to every new important article on the website.
Sylwester Zwierzynski
