Council chiefs are set to sell off a former supermarket site which was bought seven years ago for £3m.
Kirklees Council bought the former Safeway site in Bradford Road, Dewsbury, on behalf of Dewsbury College.
At the time Dewsbury College had £20m plans to relocate to the site from nearby Halifax Road.
The council stepped in to buy the land from discount supermarket group Lidl, which has a store next door, pending approval for the new college.
Dewsbury College merged with Huddersfield Technical College in 2009 to become Kirklees College.
Plans for the new £74m Waterfront campus in Huddersfield went ahead but an application for funding for Dewsbury was rejected by the Learning and Skills Council.
The 4.44 acre site, flattened by the council, has stood derelict since then.
Now Kirklees Council’s Cabinet has had interest in the land and on Tuesday (August 25) councillors will be asked to agree to instruct agents to sell the site by open market tender.
A report to Cabinet says that the land has a restrictive covenant, insisted upon by Lidl, that the land was not sold for food or drink retail.
There is also an agreement between the council and Lidl covering the construction of a new joint access should one by necessary to develop the council’s land.
The report says: “The former Safeway site has been subject of much interest during the last few years with interest from retailers, developers and bespoke end users.
“It is considered that demand for the site will be strong, notwithstanding the site’s constraints and restrictions placed upon it.”
The report says the council is under a statutory duty to obtain the best price possible.
The land has been independently valued and a “third party” has approached the council with plans to build retail units.
Details of the offer and the council’s valuation are contained in a confidential report which will be considered in private at the meeting.
