Council sell Biggins Wood land for £4.5m to Wickhambreaux Developments Ltd
After eight years it has been sold for £4,518,000, according to the land registry. The site was purchased in Dec 2016, by the Council, under urgency powers, by the now Chief Exec – Dr Susan Priest – from a known criminal for £1.5m
The 10.75 acres (4.3ha) site, known as Biggins wood (pictured) was previously owned by Folkestone & Hythe District Council. It has been sold to Wickhambreaux Developments Ltd.
The four directors of Wickhambreaux Developments Ltd are:
according to Companies House. The company which has active and significant control of Wickhambreaux is BAAT Limited. The person with significant control of BAAT Ltd is Barry Bushell
“Wickhambreaux Developments Ltd, will deliver 5,600sqm of commercial units. Orbit Homes, partnering with Chartway, will build the 77 new homes for social rent and shared ownership”
says the Council’s press release.
The site has planning permission
In the press release Orbit Homes are named. The are owned by the Orbit Group, who were investigated by the Housing Ombudsman in April 2024. The Ombudsman made 15 recommendations to improve its damp and mould practices
The review was independent of both the Ombudsman and the landlord, and is one of the first uses of the Ombudsman’s new powers under the Social Housing Regulation Act to order wider reviews into a landlords policy, practice and root causes of complaints. The power to make a wider order goes beyond providing redress on individual complaints and extends fairness and protection to other residents. The review involved 7 cases of damp and mould where the Ombudsman had found maladministration, including severe maladministration.
Chartway are also mentioned in the Council press release. They were appointed by Oliver Davis Homes (ODH) – who became Mulberry Tree Holdings (now liquidated) – were chosen to deliver a civil works package within the redevelopment of the Somerfield Hospital buildings on London Road, Maidstone. However, since then Oliver Davis, and many of the companies he has run, have run into severe financial difficulty
Chartway have now taken over the contract to deliver 73 homes on the former Somerfield Hospital site.
In 2021, the Council received £1.15m to enable remediation of the contaminated Biggins Wood site, shown in red below. These parts of the site were more contaminated than Princes Parade, according to the data in the Geotechnical & Contamination report, undertaken in 2013. In a public statement on the 14 June 2017, Cllr Clive Goddard (Con) informed the world the land was not contaminated. If that were the case, then why did the council need £1.15m to enable the site to be decontaminated?
The site which has planning permission Y17/0888/SH – granted on the 31 Oct 2017 – for 77 homes – 23 of which were initially going to be affordable rent – now all 77 will be affordable, according to the Council. It also has planning permission for 5,802 square metres of commercial space.
It has taken more than fifteen years to bring this site forward so any development of it could proceed. As early as 2010, Quinn Homes were interested in the site, but they walked away as it was not viable due to the contamination and geotechnical issues.
Finally, though the site has been sold, and the Council have made a profit in the region of £3m, how will they use this profit? Will they pay down its debt, or on use it on other capital projects – eg Ship Street, Otterpool Park. We look forward to an announcement how the money will talk for the people of the district.
The Shepway Vox Team
Dissent is NOT a Crime
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