What about future developments within 'the exiting perimiter' (whatever that means)?
Might the housing estate get Bigger?
Consider the Tate Road Bungalows and House. (5 in total). The bungalows are run-down. They have been unoccupied for long periods up until about the time the NSE submitted their first planning application. The NSE proposes that they stay and Tate Road becomes a cul-de-sac (even though further access to the housing estate would seem a sensible idea). Yet while the NSE plan to build all their staff accommodation on the opposite side of the site, these get left ‘as-is’. It seems quite strange. Of course, the land is Green Belt. It also borders the Colne Valley Park. sense assumes the land is part of that sold to property developers. In due course the bungalows could be demolished and the developer could build 5 x 5-bedded ‘Executive Homes:-
- Private cul-de-sac
- Wonderful views over protected Green Belt land
- Excellent commuting location
- Buckinghamshire schooling… and so on
Sales price: 5 x £1.25M = £6.25M; Cost £1.25M; Profit £5M.
If the £32M scheme is allowed, it’s no longer Green Belt, so planning permission is relatively easy and no affordable housing requirement. Had they included it now, proximity to CVP might be an issue. As noted elsewhere, sense's estimated profit for the developer on the 218 home estate is £9.4M. An extra £5M is quite a tasty morsel.
Is there anything else that presents a good development opportunity once the Green Belt safeguards are removed?
Are there any future plans for their own site?
How about an 'Epilepsy Research Centre'? In Schedule 3 of the NSE proposal (submitted as part 2004/1030/CH there appears the following statement: “Note: New NSE medical research facility of 2000m2 anticipated in future phase of development at 1 storey height.”
This raises some interesting questions, like:
- Where might it be located?
- Why not include it in the main planning application?
- Are there other ‘pending developments’ you’ve not told us about?
- How might it be funded (2,000 x £1,250 psm = £2.5M)?
- If the NSE can fund that, why not commit another £2.5M into care homes?
- Who would bear running costs, particularly staff? If NSE, how would they fund it?
Are sense suggesting an Epilepsy Research Centre is a bad thing? Not at all. But we do note that the NSE's approach seems to bypass normal planning process and we also wonder how an organisation so desperately short of cash for its care homes could possibly find cash for an additional capital project.
|
