BUILDINGS and plots of land worth millions of pounds are being earmarked for development ahead of the expected administration change at Brentwood Borough Council.
Transforming Old House into flats and creating new council houses on industrial land are being proposed by the alliance of Lib Dems, Labour, Brentwood First and an independent councillor ahead of forming the new administration on June 11.
Central to their plans are The Grade II listed Old House in Shenfield Road, the Warley Training Centre in Eagle Way, Bell Mead in Ingatestone, and the Hallsford Bridge industrial centre – all currently owned by the council.
Russell Quirk, who is expected to be named as chairman of the assets panel when the council meets for the first time since the elections, said using the assets properly could bring in “capital receipts and monthly revenue from multiple opportunities”.
The Warley Training Centre site, in The Drive, which has been empty for several years could be sold off for a seven-figure sum to developers to make way for a revamped site of up to 34 homes.
Although the property will be offered to developers, the council is likely to retain a number of flats, which it will rent out to the private sector. The sale of that asset could then be used to fund the redevelopment of Old House, the building close to Wilsons Corner, into seven flats.
Although Brentwood Borough Council had wanted to sell the building – with it listed recently on the market for around £600,000 – Cllr Quirk has long insisted it makes better commercial sense to invest in it some of the money expected from the sale of other council land.
That way, the 7,000 square foot building can be retained by the council and leased out later for around £100,000 a year in rent.
In Ingatestone, work to develop Bellmead, a council-owned 0.6 acre site, will be given extra impetus to develop it into five homes.
And Hallsford Bridge, a one-acre industrial site at Stondon Massey that the council has owned for several years, is being earmarked by Cllr Quirk for development of up to ten residential council homes.
These could be funded from capital receipts the council has accrued from the sale of council houses under the right-to-buy scheme.
He said: “Previously, when I took the role of overseeing the asset portfolio on 2012, I identified disused land that could be utilised for much-needed housing – including social housing.
“I had lined up a series of sales that would net the tax-payer millions of pounds that then be put to good use.
“I also ensured that heritage assets, such as Old House and the Town Hall, would be preserved.
“By being entrepreneurial, I believe the council can benefit from capital receipts and an ongoing monthly revenue from multiple opportunities including the Warley Training Centre and Bellmead and sites such as Hallsford Bridge, which will now be looked at in detail for affordable homes for the area – an initiative which has the backing of the ward councillor Roger Keeble and the parish Council.
“Hallsford Bridge has already been marketed for industrial use for a decade or so without success and so it was pretty stupid to continue to market it as such, especially when the solution of residential homes was staring the council in the face.”