Two car parks in Chatham town centre have been put up for sale after plans for 179 flats allegedly stalled. The pay-and-display car parks in Queen Street and Slicketts Hill, owned by Medway Council, are now being marketed by estate agent Harrisons Chartered Surveyors. Plans put forward by developer Creval (Chatham) Ltd to build 179 flats were given the go-ahead by Medway Council's planning committee in March last year. The council's cabinet met on 5 April this year to discuss a confidential report and make decisions relating to the development of the car parks. Medway Labour & Co-operative Group requested a special 'call-in' of the council's business support overview and scrutiny committee to reconsider two of the decisions made by the cabinet. The meeting took place behind closed doors on 5 May and gained cross-party consensus, with several key recommendations put forward to the cabinet for consideration at a future cabinet meeting. The recommendations include introducing an improved system of governance and accountability for projects with budgets above £100,000 or a duration of more than 3 years, and to ensure that no services or projects tendered go against the council's policies. The recent listing of the car parks relates to the leasehold of the site. The estate agent's website says: "The council is wanting the buyer of the site to develop it and is not expecting the car parks to be retained or replaced." The leasehold is being offered for 250 years and will contain a clause allowing the council to take back the site if development is not started within five years of the lease being granted. Once the development is completed, the council will transfer its freehold ownership for a nominal sum plus costs. However, if the potential buyer doesn't complete the development within 10 years of the grant of the lease, the council can terminate the lease. Plans to develop the town centre site were first mooted in April 2010, when Medway Council granted outline planning consent for a scheme of 118 homes and commercial space - although it did not come to fruition.
At a cabinet meeting in May 2014, the council declared the car parks surplus for development. This was not taken forward due to concerns about the loss of town centre parking spaces and the deterioration of the property market at the time. The council finally agreed to bring forward the site for development, whilst retaining the car park and income, at a cabinet meeting in February 2016. By 2020, the council entered a legal agreement with Creval to deliver a scheme. According to a source, it's believed the deal between Creval and the council proved unsuccessful and will not progress. However, BRL Architects, the architects behind Creval's plans, insisted the development was still going ahead. Steve Rickhards, director at BRL Architects, said: "We can confirm that our client Creval (Chatham) Ltd, having successfully obtained Planning Consent for their redevelopment proposals for the site, which included receiving the unanimous support of the Council’s Planning Committee, remains fully committed to delivering this exciting and much needed regeneration project for Chatham in conjunction with the Local Authority." Offers for the car parks are being accepted until Monday, 29 September.
Steve Byers
21/7/2022 13:01:09
Hi I see yet another development in the Medway area of proposed flats. Comments are closed.
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