How do EDDC market Knowle?
(Sidmouth Herald, 14
February 2014)
– ‘Controversial building
site for sale – with a proven history of failed planning applications’ ?
Buyers will know they face near unanimous opposition
from the residents of Sidmouth. They will have serious conservation issues to
overcome, questions over rights of way through the site, and parkland access
around it. Not the best start for a prospective developer. Surely no one will
say ‘If I can’t get you planning permission, no one will’. So, I suggest, the
buyers will simply take their time – it worked at Fortfield. I speculate:
On completion, the developers will erect an
unsightly security fence and strip out valuable materials. They will propose controversial
developments. Meanwhile, the buildings will slowly dilapidate. They will
attract break-ins, and thefts. Knowle will soon be occupied by squatters and rough
sleepers, drug and alcohol abusers. And, as at Fortfield, daredevils will ‘play’
in the emptying shell.
Our local police will waste large amounts of time, risking
life and limb, to control illicit activities, until they decide the site is too
dangerous to police. Similarly, the Fire and Rescue Service will aim to ensure the
site safety, but they too will eventually decide it is too dangerous to enter
in the event of a fire.
If fires break out, hopefully our Fire Fighters will
control these, without loss of life or limb, thereby protecting adjacent
properties and parkland. But eventually, our Knowle will dilapidate or burn so that
it has to be demolished for safety’s sake. Confronted by a gaping sore on the
face of Sidmouth, EDDC planners will eventually pass a contentious planning application.
And the people of Sidmouth will be caught by a cynical approach to the planning
process, this time initiated by the very Council whose job it is to control
that process.
So, historic buildings destroyed, local jobs lost, parkland
and wildlife habitats threatened, expensive policing and management by rescue
services, lives put at risk – all because the Council leadership wants a prestigious
new building that EDDC doesn’t really need and we cannot afford.
By placing the new headquarters at Skypark, on the
edge of Exeter, EDDC will undermine its own case for managing the District
within the District by people who know the District. East Devon will effectively
be managed from Exeter. As a consequence, EDDC could doom its own existence as
a layer of administration, long before the new building repays its costs.
Last year I proposed that EDDC might refurbish the modern
1970s offices at Knowle, funded by selling the older buildings for conversion
to flats (letters to all Councillors and to the Sidmouth Herald, July and
August 2013). I was told by Cllr Twiss that there was insufficient space for
that. I then measured the newer buildings from plans provided by EDDC. I showed
that there is 40% more modern floorspace than EDDC had claimed, and an area adequate
for their needs – EDDC have never given us any factual counter-evidence. I
later found a publication by EDDC’s own consultants indicating that, typically,
full refurbishment of the modern Knowle plus the council chamber should cost £2.0million-£3.3million
to ‘remodel’ or £3.3million-£4.6million to gut and ‘renew’, not the £15million
claimed by EDDC (the lower figures are still unchallenged by real, publicly
released, EDDC data). The only contribution I got to this debate from Council
Leader Diviani was a two-word email (16 August 2013, copied to all Councillors):
‘Fuller’s Folly’.
If anywhere there is folly in this whole sad and
sorry story, it is the proposal to sell Knowle (and Manstone and Heathpark) for
development; and, with a £4million loan, use the proceeds – which might have been
spent on services in East Devon – to build new offices, miles from the centre
of the District, right on the edge of Exeter. That seems like sheer lunacy to
me.
Robin Fuller,
Sidmouth
16 February 2014
A reference from the same Herald:
Page 14 again – EDDC to start marketing Knowle. Funny that, we thought it had been on the market for years which was why the planning application (which was refused) went in.
This week’s Sidmouth Herald: a cracking read | Sidmouth Independent News
... which seems to differ from recent press releases:
A marketing exercise for Knowle and Manstone will now also get underway...
East Devon District Council - Moving and Improving
Sky Park near Exeter "preferred choice" for East Devon District Council HQ move | Exeter Express and Echo
See also:
Futures Forum: Fortfield Hotel ... to ... Sanditon apartments
Futures Forum: Fortfield Hotel ... to ... Sanditon apartments ... How much exactly will Sidmouth benefit?
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: the letters of objection
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