Liquidators sell £100m golf resort
THERE may be a light at the end of the tunnel for the Flaxby development near Knaresborough, as liquidators sell the former golf club to a new vehicle, HUTC Ltd.
The company’s ambitious plans will turn the abandoned site into a community near Knaresborough in North Yorkshire.
The business previously associated with the £100m development, Skelwith Leisure, a subsidiary of the Skelwith Group, went into liquidation last year following a legal dispute over ownership of the site and a winding up order brought against the group.
Farming family the Armstrongs sold the land to the developers in 2008, but were unhappy with changes to the original plan to turn the site into a fully-fledged hotel resort. Instead developers proposed a whole new town for the Flaxby site, which the Armstrongs objected to.
Adrian Allen and Mark Wilson of RSM were appointed joint liquidators to Skelwith Leisure on 24 September 2015
The company behind the plans is Flaxby Park Ltd, a collaboration between businesswoman and philanthropist Ann Gloag OBE, a former nurse and co-founder of transport giant Stagecoach, and regeneration experts Chris Musgrave and Trevor Cartner. Mr Cartner along with financier Pauline Bradley are directors of HUTC.
Consultation will begin to look into a residential site, as well as a new school, shops and facilities, and the development is expected to create hundreds of jobs and provide a multi-million pound boost to the local economy.
Adrian Allen, Restructuring partner based out of RSM’s Leeds office and one of the Joint Liquidators said: ‘We are delighted to confirm that contracts for the sale of the former site of Flaxby Golf Club have now been exchanged with HUTC Limited and completion of the sale is imminent, subject to legal formalities being finalised.
‘The sale, to a party that has expertise in regeneration projects, will ensure that the site can reach its development potential and brings to an end the uncertainty arising following the demise of Skelwith Leisure, which went into Liquidation in September 2015.’
The site covers a 278 acre triangle of countryside West of junction 47 of the A1(m), within easy commuting distance for Harrogate, York and Leeds.
Ray Mallon, spokesman for Flaxby Park Ltd, said: “In the past Flaxby has suffered from numerous false dawns – what the new owners can offer is a bright future.
“Consultation is key and a major exercise will now commence to ensure the people of Harrogate, their representatives and any other parties interested in securing the future of the local area have their say.
“A key factor is that this team do not need to raise external funding, they have the money in place to deliver on their plans.”
Plans for a £100m, 300-bed golf hotel and resort were first launched in the early 2000’s. Planning permission was granted in 2010 but construction slowed to a standstill by 2014, after the construction of a £4m roundabout to provide access to the site.
In November 2014 Skelwith Leisure announced that the golf resort had been scrapped, saying it would not be profitable.
Another luxury hotel was sold following the administration of another Skelwith Group company earlier this year. Raithwaite Hall was acquired from Skelwith Leisure (Raithwaite) by Richard Jackson’s Yorkshire Ventures in February 2016.
