Exclusive: Disgraced police commissioner’s aborted garage workshop project wastes almost £400,000

The Earls Barton project never materialised and now the building has been sold off

By Sarah Ward

An aborted scheme to build a new garage workshop for Northants police and fire vehicles has ended up costing the taxpayer almost £400,000, NN Journal has learned.

Northamptonshire’s disgraced former police, fire and crime commissioner Stephen Mold had made the decision in 2021 to buy the unit in Earls Barton and turn it into a vehicle maintenance workshop.

However after projected costs of renovating the unit spiralled from £6m to £16m, Stephen Mold decided to scrap the project, a move that NN Journal can reveal has cost the Northants tax payer £390,920.

The unit in Baron Avenue was recently sold for £3.3m - the same price it was bought for from Charterhouse Ventures- but there have been additional costs of agents fees, security and business rates. 

Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Danielle Stone, who took over the role from Conservative Stephen Mold said: 

“Poor decision making has cost the Office – and the public – a significant amount of money.

“While I am pleased to see a joint workshop developed, so that both organisations can work together where it makes sense to do so, I am determined to make sure that the investments we make in buildings meet the business needs of both Northamptonshire Police and Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service in the most cost effective, and community-focussed way.”

The commissioner’s office has supplied a breakdown of the costs. £187,500 went on stamp duty; £60,156 was spent on agents fees (for the sale and advertising); £33,047 was spent on security and repairs; business rates during the three years it was owned by the commissioner’s office cost £110,517. 

£170,000 has been spent on design and consultation, although the commissioner’s office has said this sum will not be wasted as the designs will now be transferred to a new building at the Darby House headquarters on the Park Farm Industrial estate in Wellingborough.

“This is still going ahead but on land we already own at Darby House and so these costs were avoided in preparing the new design for the current planning application.”

Darby House is the new headquarters on the Park Farm Industrial estate in Wellingborough.

The unit was raided three times in one month last year. Stephen Mold had said last June the site would incur a ‘small loss’ but tried to spin the situation by instead claiming he had saved the taxpayer £8m by not going ahead with the scheme which had been his idea.

The news of the money wasted, is another dent in the reputation of the former commissioner, who had to stand down after the derogatory remarks he made about his fire chief Nikki Watson, received widespread condemnation.

This came after months of scandal first sparked when he appointed his rumoured girlfriend Nicci Marzec to the role of chief fire officer despite not having any fire experience.

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The Local Democracy Reporting service has also said the former Kettering Police station has been sold with contracts exchanged. The ‘eyesore’ building has stood empty for years. No figures on sale fees have yet been made public.

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