Pounds House sold off and fenced off as Labour's promises turn to dust

Pounds House in Peverell is now surrounded by high fencing and 'no entry' signs after the Labour-run council sold the property for £500,000 - an amount that will cover Plymouth City Council’s spending for less than a day.

The villa, which had been in public ownership since the 1920s, was put up for auction last October. The sale included the surrounding grounds, which are now also closed to the public.

Local Liberal Democrat Stuart Bonar said: "I remember going into the building as a child when it was a library, and playing in and around the gardens. Many local residents have similar memories. To see it all fenced off is heartbreaking."

Back in 2021, Labour announced with considerable fanfare that they were setting aside £1.82 million in the council budget to restore Pounds House and its gardens to their former glory. It was, they declared at the time, 'all systems go'. That never happened. The £1.82 million was never spent, and Pounds House has now passed into private hands.

Stuart added: "The Labour-run council spends £326 million a year on day-to-day services like bin collections and street cleaning, so the £500,000 from selling Pounds House covered barely half a day's spending. Think about that. A building that had been in public hands for almost a century, sold off to cover not much more than one afternoon's bills!

"Labour made plenty of commitments about Pounds House over the years. Despite all those words, they sold it – and for an amount that didn't even cover a day of their own running costs.

"Plymouth needs change, and in May's council elections, people here have the chance to vote for it.”