Knowle relocation project: "A magnificent new development coming soon, situated in a stunning, historic landscape with extensive gardens and leisure spaces."

There has been considerable dismay at proposals by the District Council to assign parts of the Knowle parkland for development:
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: Legal notice for 'Disposal' and 'Appropriation' of Open Space: further information

Indeed, many might consider this a 'swindle':
Knowle ‘grab’ - anger boils up in Sidmouth - News - Sidmouth Herald
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: "The great garden grab"

Meanwhile, the Guardian's architecture correspondent Oliver Wainwright has suggested that property developers are keen to offer potential buyers green vistas and plenty of trees:

The great garden swindle: how developers are hiding behind shrubbery

Oliver Wainwright Thursday 16 April 2015 

From trees on bridges to magical parks, London’s most damaging developments are using green garnish as a decoy to distract from what’s really going on

Spring has sprung and developers are getting green-fingered. Across London, their planning applications are sprouting leaves and bursting into bloom. They’re promising trees on bridges and jungles in the clouds, sky-gardens and life-giving linear parks, along with a whole network of green ribbons weaving through town.

... As one Twitter wit put it when I posted a photo of the wretched thing: “Certainly sir, a two-bed maisonette. And would you like salad with that?”

The great garden swindle: how developers are hiding behind shrubbery | Art and design | The Guardian

Developers do indeed like to dazzle with 'concepts' and PowerPoint and video:
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: and the Skypark fly-through: "Many a contentious proposal has shimmied through the planning process (and on to the sales office) on the back of a series of CGIs, gleaming evocations that are liable to be slight on detail and heavy on seductive gleam."

The agent Savills has made what's on offer at Knowle already very clear:

The Knowle
Sidmouth, EX10 8HL

Price on Application
207,345.6 SqFt

Overall site approximately 4.76 acres (1.92 hectares)
Adjoining stunning parkland in the desirable town of Sidmouth
Available due to the relocation of East Devon District Council offices
Southerly sea views
Within ½ mile walk of Sidmouth town centre

Savills UK | The Knowle | Development | To Buy
commercialsearch.savills.co.uk/content/assets/3732/Brochure - Knowle 020914.pdf

One wonders what the current preferred bidder Pegasus will offer in the way of green vistas and plenty of trees with its upcoming planning application...

Here are some suitably green views from its current portfolio:



Malt Yard Apartments, Woodbridge, Suffolk | PegasusLife




A magnificent new development coming soon, situated in a stunning, historic landscape with extensive gardens and leisure spaces.

Developments in Sevenoaks, Kent | Portfolio | PegasusLife
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