Hi HB.
I guess that YT link is an example of the slow wheels of bureaucracy.
N'est-ce pas?
This 'rezoning' idea is an American one.
You have to get planning consent for a specific development proposal in the UK.
And they haven't submitted an application (yet).
If they wanted to maximise the value of the site, they would have to get consent for high density housing to pretty well cover the whole 17 acres. Which they simply won't get, with the sites proximity to the existing village.
They might get consent for a couple of low density cul-de-sacs for a handful of executive homes though.
I really didn't realise that the acreage is on the Sawston village side of the railway and dual carriageway.
At least it appeared that way in the (now dead) link provided by Lykiri.
Nimbyism is alive and well in middle England, and the individual objections to a large scale, high density development would run into hundreds if not thousands.
Don't get me wrong. I do think it's a valuable asset, but if anyone thinks they can get it 'rezoned' in a few months, and realise £5m or £10m, then I really do think that's pie in the sky.
Now if they went in with an experienced developer and proposed a mixed development with maybe a health centre, a sports or leisure facility, and maybe some housing (and maybe even an accommodation facility for visiting patients) they might stand a chance.
But as Huawei has found out, initial proposals rarely get a green light first time round. We're talking 3-5 years even if they started the process tomorrow. NWBO time in other words.
Developers often initially submit something that is really an opening gambit, knowing that it won't get consent, and that they will have to revise their submission subsequently.
Though the land does have an 'as is' value. Which is whatever you can get someone to pay for it. A fraction of the value compared to the site with planning consent.
But, contrary to some others, I've never really thought that NWBO wanted the land just to make a quick buck on it anyway. I still think they have a long-term vision of an integrated facility which patients come to for treatment.
But I could be way off on that.
I never thought they would sell the Vision Centre either.
But the sale to Huawei did give them that essential war chest (that now echoes when you shut the lid).
I'm still not totally convinced about where the 17 acres actually are precisely. I though that the acreage included some rundown brownfield. But Lykiri's link showed what appears to be largely undeveloped agricultural land.
It's just a landbank for now.
Purely my opinion.
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