THE OWNER of a lap dancing club located in a key area of Bolton Council’s latest regeneration plans claims he is no closer to selling his property.

Barry Grundy has been in a long-term dispute with the authority over Diamonds, located on Bank Street, which would be an important site in the latest Church Wharf plans.

The 70-year-old claims the council have not made him aware of their plans during the time Muse Developments have been working on new proposals for the area and says representatives have made no approach since making an offer for the property in 2016 which he deemed to be less than the property’s worth.

The Bolton News:

However, the council dispute Mr Grundy’s claims, saying they have been discussing their plans with landowners in the area for some time.

“Church Wharf is a fundamental part of our town centre masterplan, and discussions have been ongoing with businesses and landowners including Mr Grundy for considerable time,” a spokesman for the authority said.

“An agent acting on our behalf has met and also had substantial contact with Mr Grundy and his representatives via e-mail and telephone.

“We look forward to continuing our negotiations to a positive resolution.”

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Mr Grundy disagrees, claiming he would be more than happy to sell the property should he receive his requested asking price, but adding that he has found it difficult to deal with the council’s representatives.

“They wont give us any answers” Mr Grundy said.

“They don’t speak to us, they wont call us back and the offers they have made are not what we want for the property.”

The site is located close to the former Late Bar, which is set to be demolished as developers’ Muse plan to build a bridge spanning a new ‘garden park’, which would jut out from Bank Street at that point.

The Bolton News:

The council also claims to have discussed moving businesses inside the Church Wharf development area to other premises off-site, as well as potentially rehousing them in other updated buildings on Church Wharf. Council representatives have also confirmed that compulsory purchase orders (CPO) are a possibility, although they are described as a “last resort”.

Previously, Cllr Martin Donaghy accused Mr Grundy of demanding a price for the property which was too high.

However, the Diamonds owner disputes this, saying he just wants a “fair price” for the property he has owned for 40 years.