Biggin Wood Cheriton: Not a house or commercial unit built after 8 years of council ownership

Eight years on since the Council purchased the Biggins Wood land (pictured below) in Cheriton, for £1.5m, not one of the 77 homes,including 23 affordable homes; or the 54 light industrial units have been built. The land was supposed to “deliver value for money” to the local council tax payer

On the 21st Dec 2016, Dr Susan Priest, (pictured)  the then Corporate Director for Strategic Development, now the Chief Executive of the Council, she used urgency powers to purchase 10.75 acres of land known as Biggins Wood, in Cheriton.

On the 27 July 2023, at a special meeting of the Cabinet under the new administration led by Cllr Jim Martin (Green), they received Report Number C23/24 outlined a previous developer for the residential land only had withdrawn their offer; and the council had received:

(a) an offer from the commercial developer for the whole site; and

(b) a further offer from a housing association for the residential land only.

These offers and the risk associated with them needed to be considered by Cabinet members so that officers could proceed with the site disposal.

Cllr Tim Parter (Lib Dem) Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Governance said at the meeting on the 27 July 2023, the move “seems like the logical approach at this stage“.

He added: “It’s an entire cash up front sale effectively so it would be done in one go and it would mean that there would be a capital receipt to the council, and we can get on and go and do other things and try to get more affordable rent and council house units out of other places.”

However, we can confirm as of today 25 November 2024, the land is still owned by the Council, according to the land registry; and as such, means the sale of the land to either party has not proceeded as intended.

One must not forget, one of the reasons for the Council purchasing the land back in 2016 was to “Deliver value for money“.

In an internal report written by Andy Jarrett (pictured), the then Head of the Council’s Strategic Development Opportunities, sent to Dr Priest, Corporate Director on the 15 December 2016, the conclusion was “The acquisition… Will enable to meet its corporate objectives and represents good value for money.“

The land was valued at £1.2m by BNP Paribas and purchased for £1.5m. The decision to pay an extra £300,000 was a calculated risk, one which has not paid off, as not a single house or commercial unit has been built and the Council is still saddled with land which it has found no use for.

We are sure Adrian Kirby  (pictured) who the Council purchased the land from back in Dec 2016, was appreciative of the extra £300,000. He was a sensible man, as he took the money and ran. However, eight years on; and you, the local council tax payer, have not seen any value for money from this site.

The Shepway Vox Team

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