Care home could be built on Sandye Place site as consultation to decide its future proposed
A consultation could soon start over the future of the Sandye Place site – and it could include a new care home.
Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC) is expected to approve the start of the consultation of the beloved site in Sandy at its meeting on April 1.
And its plans include a £19 million investment on a new modern facility to replace the council-run Allison House residential home, which it says will future-proof care home places in the area.
According to the council report, the new care home could also include community spaces such as a cafe.
But while plans for the rest of the site include the potential for community facilities, housing has not been ruled out.
According to the council report “There has been feedback objecting to use the site for housing. Evidence shows that there is need for housing in Sandy, and housing growth is lower than elsewhere in Central Bedfordshire.”
It adds that “more people living centrally in Sandy will likely boost footfall to the High Street supporting local shops and businesses in turn”.
Other options include transferring the site to the community or leasing it to a group for an agreed amount, reviewing community suggestions for the land, giving the community the right to bid for the site, as well as opening up the opportunity to sell the land to any of the mentioned groups, or others.
The report says this could lead to “new or enhanced public open space, riverside walks, and a new bridge over the river joining up the Green Wheel allowing residents in Beeston Green to walk through to Sandy”.
But a suggestion for a swimming pool has been ruled out, with the council adding that BLMK Integrated Care Board has said using the site for health services is ‘unlikely to be their preferred model’.
The former Sandye Place Academy site has remained largely vacant since its closure in August 2019, although it was used to support the council’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic and has been used for the Sandy Carnival and Coronation celebrations.
Meanwhile, Sandy Youth Club operates from a dedicated building on the site.
The CBC report explains: “Many residents have commented how fond they are of the former Sandye Place Academy site and there is a particular attachment to the Mansion House. The Mansion House had been a residential dwelling since at least 1670. It became Grade 2 listed in 1949. It was considered by Bedfordshire County Council as a potential older people’s home before being acquired by the Education Committee and operated as a school from 1951 until it closed in 2019.”
It adds: “A local community group has identified the site to be of importance to their community’s social well-being and the site has been listed as an asset of community value. This means that if the site comes up for sale, there will be the opportunity for the community group to make an expression of interest as a potential bidder and trigger a six month moratorium to ensure they are given the opportunity to make a bid to buy.
“Although the site is not open for general use it has historical features and open space and is a much cherished site for the local community. Through previous public consultations and discussions there have been many suggestions put forward for its future use.
“The council is keen to ensure the site provides much-needed facilities which will add value to the community and release the council from the costs of securing the site.”
The Mansion House has a maintenance backlog of around £800k, the council explained, and it’s believed it would cost more than £2million to refurbish it for a new use, with running costs projected as £200k a year.
Cllr Steve Watkins, executive member for assets at Central Bedfordshire Council, said: “We are seeking approval to hold this really important consultation with the community, and others, to decide what will happen next to the former Sandye Place Academy site including the reprovision of Allison House on the site.
“The site has been listed as an ‘asset of community value’, which could mean the community can have the opportunity to bid to purchase it. There are also other options we want to explore with the community, and together, come up with the best plan for the currently inactive site that will benefit and add value to the local community and address the ongoing wider financial implications.”
If given the go-ahead, the consultation would start on April 16 and run until July 8.
You can visit the council’s website to find out more, and to watch the April 1 meeting.
Sandy Town Council has been approached for comment. In May last year it held a ‘crisis meeting’ to ‘thwart’ plans for a housing estate and care home on the site.
Speaking at the time, councillor Nigel Aldis expressed fears that consultations were ‘very often’ a ‘box-ticking exercise’, and said: "It is too important to let the bureaucrats in Chicksands ignore the wishes of local people. It is time to stand up and be counted."
And he added: "The people in Sandy have been saying via the Neighbourhood Plan that they would like to see a museum, meeting rooms, a sports hall, a leisure centre – we will make this clear, so that CBC is left in no doubt of the strength of feeling."