TWO major redevelopment projects that include a “new college campus” and dozens of affordable housing units have been approved for High Wycombe.
Buckinghamshire Council has agreed to dispose the freeholds of Collins House, on Desborough Road, and 30-34 Oxford Road in deals that will transform the two vacant sites.
Buckinghamshire College Group have offered to buy the Oxford Road freehold to consolidate their Amersham and Flackwell Heath campuses in Wycombe town centre.
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“Displaced temporary residential accommodation will be provided at the council’s new development at Desborough Road”, according to council documents.
'The college offer is also dependent upon them cross financing from disposal of their Amersham and Flackwell Heath campuses'
The highways authority is also being approached on land it owns on Oxford Road relating to an old road improvement line to confirm it is surplus to requirement.
The Oxford Road property is an “end of life” asset, the report states, which has five short-term first-floor temporary accommodation units and a proposed temporary letting for a ‘meanwhile use’ of its ground floor.
Buckinghamshire College Group claim to be able to fulfil their requirement on the council’s landholding, if the authority includes a nearby Bridge Street building currently let as ‘motor workshops and storage’.
The college group has also offered to lease properties on Brook Street belonging to the council for redevelopment as vehicle training workshops, according to the report.
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PICTURED: A council made map of the sites in question (red outline) with the highways site in blue
A new deal from ‘property management company’ Places for People to redevelop Collins House for affordable housing by selling the freehold has also been agreed.
Collins House is derelict and in need of redevelopment, according to the documents. A previous deal under offer to a housing association was not completed.
There is potential for 60 units; part-affordable rented, part-shared ownership, the report states.
Places for People are also acquiring the council’s “Bellfield site” in the Hughenden Quarter off Bellfield Road, according to the report.
Both proposals are subject to planning, and ‘capacity studies’ have been done on both sites.
Collins House will bring empty property rates savings of around £30,000pa, while Oxford Road will bring around £45,000pa.
The college offer is also dependent upon them ‘cross financing’ from disposal of their Amersham and Flackwell Heath campuses, and a government grant.
Oxford Road’s first floor was temporarily let, pending completion of the new Desborough Temporary Accommodation scheme. Bucks Council’s housing services team have confirmed they do not require it once Desborough Road is completed.
Cllr Lesley Clarke said she is “very happy” to support the Collins House proposal.
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