SPECULATION that the Lord Mayor Treloar Hospital site has been sold to a Hartley Witney-based property developer has been confirmed this week.
Speculation began when it was noticed that Westbury Homes Holding Limited, had submitted an application to East Hampshire planners for the installation of a mini-roundabout with two accesses on to Chawton Park Road at the former Lord Mayor Treloar Hospital site in Alton. The application includes the provision of a cycleway with associated signing and lining.
After not being able to contact Westbury Homes before last weekÕs edition, The Herald could not confirm whether the company were merely contracted to undertake the road building work on behalf of another developer, thought to be Alfred McAlpine, or whether they had bought the site outright.
Speaking earlier this year on behalf of NHS property agents Capitec, property manager Martin Hackwell confirmed that Òfollowing marketing of the site, Capitec has agreed terms for the sale to McAlpine.Ó
Alfred McAlpine have this week confirmed that they have no interest in the site, and have declined to comment further.
It has since come to light that the site has indeed been sold to Westbury Homes, with plans to build a substantial number of new homes.
Regional project manager for Westbury Homes Bryan Leeming said: ÒNegotiations between Capitec and Sir Alfred McAlpine took place, but the sale never went through. We purchased the site from Capitec on Wednesday, September 19.
ÒThe plans for the site are similar to the plans that were granted outline permission at the beginning of the year. We have currently got two applications being processed by East Hampshire District Council. One is for permission to build access and road measures, and the other is for permission to build 183 dwellings on the site. Fiifty four of these will be social housing and 129 will be private housing.Ó
Capitec, the real estate wing of the NHS, was given outline planning permission after an appeal, to demolish historic buildings and construct 145 dwellings on the cherished Alton site back in April, amid some controversy.
At the time, the decision was described by some as Òa devastating blowÓ, which ignored the overwhelming wish of local people who thought that the existing buildings on the site should be saved and reused.
Alton Society chairman, Geoff Nicholas, was astounded that the Department of Environment Inspector could have upheld the appeal bearing in mind the weight of evidence against demolition of the hospital buildings.
Referring to current waiting lists he said: ÒAltonians have overcome adversity in the past and perhaps the phoenix will yet rise from the ashes, particularly if at the eleventh hour someone on high will acknowledge the desperate need for such a hospital.Ó
But it was not to be.
Having received representation from interested parties and visited the site, Department of Environment Inspector Alan Novitzky concluded that the proposal did not conflict with Local Plan policies.
Furthermore, the buildings on the site which would be demolished under the proposal were not, he felt, of sufficient architectural or historic importance to warrant dismissing the appeal and refusing planning permission.