Staffordshire Council to borrow £20 million for Shugborough Estate deal
Staffordshire County Council will borrow more than £20 million over 50 years to pay the National Trust for taking back Shugborough Estate.
The council has confirmed the investment – to be made in equal instalments of three years – will not come out of its budget.
The move will save the authority £700,000 a year over five decades – a total of £35m – compared to having to run the estate themselves.
Deputy leader Ian Parry, cabinet member for strategy, finance and corporate issues, said: "The county council's actions 50 years ago preserved Shugborough at a time when no-one else could afford to save it, but in 2016 we shouldn't be in the business of running stately homes.
"This agreement saves millions of pounds and lets us focus on the services we should be providing."
Members of the county council's corporate review committee voted unanimously to back the council's proposals, with Councillor Brian Edwards adding: "If we'd have had this opportunity in the past, we would have taken it."
The National Trust will be given £20.5m over three years for the continued upkeep of Shugborough.
In the 1960s, the council took on a 99-year lease for the Grade-I listed building, but has chosen to surrender the lease 49 years early.
Several councillors argued that the county council was in no position to run a stately home and it was better to pass it on to the National Trust, which has the resources to look after it.
