TOWN councillors in Barnard Castle are considering investing tens of thousands of pounds in property.
The town council has about £125,000 of reserve funds.
While some of that is earmarked for specific areas of its work, the council keeps about £70,000 in a general reserve fund.
Members invited Mark Davis, a representative of CCLA Investment Management, to give a presentation at a specially convened full council meeting last week.
Mr Davis explained that CCLA manages investments for charities, religious groups and the public sector, but not personal clients.
He said that while the property fund had been around since 1972, it was only in 2013 that CCLA had decided to go back to the market and see if clients wished to put money into it.
Initially, the property fund attracted 12 clients and £80million and that had grown to 210 clients – including 80 parish and town councils – and £940million.
“Those councils have decided to take some of their resources and take a long term view,” he said.
He told councillors the minimum investment was £25,000. It was recommended to to keep any investment in the fund for at least five years.
Mr Davis said the money was invested in a variety of property, including retail warehouses, industrial buildings, such as logistics centres, and offices around the UK.
He said CCLA did not as a rule invest in shops, but did own buildings which were leased long term to the Travelodge hotel company.
Due to the uncertainties of Brexit, Mr Davis said income from rents “has to be the focus” .
He added: “Capital growth – we don’t know what it’s going to do.”
Members were told nearby Darlington Borough Council had £10million invested in the fund. Town clerk Michael King said: “We would be able to invest £25,000 – or maybe a bit more – with suitable advice. We are getting very little on our deposit in Barclays.”
Mr Davis also gave details of a cash fund offered by CCLA which has attracted investment from the likes of Ferryhill, Spennymoor and Greater Aycliffe councils.
Launched in 2011, he said it was “low risk, easy access” and not about long term investment.
“We are placing cash in this fund with 30 different banks and spreading the risk far wider than you could as an individual council,” said Mr Davis.
“More councils are using it for their day-to-day cash flow.”
It was agreed that Mr King would investigate further and report back to the town council’s resources committee.
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
