The Vanishing Kitchen
Barleythorpe Hall was closed as a residential home for elder people in June 2006 although money had been spent to bring it back to registration standards. One improvement was the installation of a new and large stainless steel kitchen costing many thousands of pounds. However a working party, of which I was a member, considered the long-term future of this residential home. The eventual outcome was to work in partnership with a private care provider to build a new ‘Care Village’ on community land adjacent to the hospital and surgery.
Since 2006 the Hall has stood empty and there has been attempts to sell the property. A little over two years ago Cllr.Wainwright accompanied a prospective buyer around who commented on the good quality of the Kitchen. This would be an important factor in any offer he should make.
Last year I went to look around the building, it is in my Ward and it has a significant history, a former home of the Yellow Earl, Lord Lonsdale. I could see that the stainless steel kitchen had been removed, only odd units remaining. This prompted me to contact the Chief Executive Officer of Rutland County Council to enquire what had happened to the kitchen as removal would have further devalued the Hall. It had previously been broken into and piping removed.
The CEO informed me (twice) that the kitchen had not been stolen. It seemed to me in order to make such a statement you would need to know what had happened to it. Several emails later to the CEO and I have still not been informed what has happened. From the exchange of emails it seems something is not in order. As I am a Ward member and a custodian of Council assets why am I being denied this information? Has it been sold or given away? Or is it stored safe somewhere? I need to know.
