The Carp Society will surrender control of one of its famous waters on 4th August after being outbid when the lake was put up for sale by owners, Sibelco.
The 17½-acre Langholme Lake in Haxey, North Lincolnshire, was acquired by the Carp Society in 2001 and has been run as a 50-man syndicate ever since. It boasts a stock of approximately 350 fish to mid-thirties and recently saw an otter fence erected around the lake.
A statement by Derek Stritton on behalf of the Carp Society directors read: “In the midst of our recent legal dispute with deposed directors to decide who should control the Society, we heard from the owners of the lake Sibelco that they intended to offer the lake for sale. We were asked to tender a bid, which we did alongside other prospective buyers. Although we put together a bid that reflected our valuation of the water, and at the top end of what we could afford (and paid to erect an otter fence as part of our intent), we were in the end comprehensively outbid by another party.
“Since that time we have been in negotiation with the new owners. The lease we held included a termination clause of 12 months, which we were informed the new owners intended to invoke. We have therefore been negotiating to ensure current Carp Society members have some security for the remainder of their permits. To that effect we have now reached agreement on the following. The control and remainder of the lease will pass to the new owners with effect from 4th August 2017, as they have asked to purchase it from us. They have agreed to purchase the stock, formerly owned by us, and to reimburse us for the recently erected otter fence, as well as the fish purchase. Current syndicate members will continue to fish the lake until the end of their permit period.
“Although we wish the new owners success with their new venture and thank them for the manner in which they have conducted negotiations over the various purchases from us, the Carp Society is clearly very sorry to have lost the control of the lake. We had hoped to be able to announce we had purchased it at the end of our legal battle, not lost control of it. We would like to record our thanks to Steve Hall and all his team for their hard work over many years. We currently continue to look to add to our portfolio of waters and will keep you informed of developments.”
