Controversy over the purchase of a run-down building continues to create divisions for Port St Mary Commissioners.

The chairman and past chairman crossed swords at the latest board meeting - over whether a survey was carried out before Manxonia House was bought.

Commissioners discussed the future of the Manxonia project behind closed doors last week but the matter will go before a public session at the next meeting.

Previous chairman Laurence Vaughan-Williams castigated new chairman Dr Michelle Haywood over her comments at a public meeting last month that the board had not seen a structural survey before making the decision to buy.

Mr Vaughan-Williams said Dr Haywood had given the impression that the board had purchased a building without a survey report.

He said that in any property acquisition you would agree to purchase, then move to a survey and then complete on the contract.

He said: ’If our chairman does not know what she’s talking about she should not give answers that are not necessarily accurate.

’You can avoid a great deal of embarrassment if you establish the facts before answering them.’

He said the idea that the building was bought without a survey report could also result in future litigation. ’I think we would want to avoid that,’ he said.

Dr Haywood said that the structural survey wasn’t done until July 2016 following a board decision to purchase in March of that year.

’The survey had not come to the board until the autumn,’ she said.

The date of the survey was July 26, she said. ’When did we exchange contracts?’ the former chairman asked.

’Certainly by October,’ replied Dr Haywood.

It was agreed that the clerk would check the date when contracts were exchanged on the purchase.

Manxonia House was purchased for £191,000 in October 2016. There was no public consultation ahead of the acquisition.

But the price of refurbishment has spiralled.

As works got under way it emerged that the building would need to be reroofed. This, together with repointing, has cost £65,000.

Dr Haywood told last month’s public meeting that just under £270,000, including the purchase price, had been spent on Manxonia House so far. ’We don’t have the money to complete the project,’ she admitted.

She estimated the project will cost £400,000, including the £191,000 purchase price, to complete.

A planning application has gone in for replacement windows. But work on refurbishing the building has stopped while the commissioners evaluate options.

Three valuations for the building have been carried out.

A business case, drawn up as part of a petition for borrowing approval, was only made public following a Freedom of Information request by Isle of Man Newspapers.

None of that loan for £221,000 has been drawn down. Instead, money for the purchase came from an account that had lain dormant and unnoticed for years.