"It's vitally important people take part in Sandye Place consultation" says mayor

Central Bedfordshire Council is expected to approve a consultation over the town centre site, which has remained shuttered since the school closed in August 2019.

Its plans include a new care home to replace Allison House on Bedford Road – as well as the potential for community spaces.

But it has also not ruled out housing.

Cllr Joanna Hewitt, Sandy mayor, said the town council’s priority was securing Sandye Place as a green space for residents.

And she added: “The people of Sandy have made it clear that they don’t want to see housing on that site.”

The town council has already produced a master plan detailing its aspirations for the site.

The site comprises a greenfield and brownfield area – with the brownfield earmarked for the new care home, cllr Hewitt explained.

She said: “I think there are a lot of good reasons for putting the new care home at Sandye Place. On Bedford Road the residents are a bit isolated. If they were in the centre of town they’re much more included in the community of the town.

“What we want to see is the greenfield site retained for the community of Sandy. And that very much comes from the people of Sandy.

“We’d like to use Sandye Place to link up the community with improved walkways. We talked about using it to improve arts and culture in the area – there’s very little in the area.

"And the important thing is that it’s a park for the people of Sandy, a proper park where they could have concerts and all sorts.

“We’re getting more and more flats and none of them have gardens. It would be really good to have that for the increasing number of people that have no amenity space in the town.”

The site is an asset of community value – meaning the town council, or other community group, could potentially buy it.

But while cllr Hewitt said the town council hoped to be able to put in an expression of interest “definitely for the greenfield”, more information was needed about the plans for dealing with the brownfield part, as it could present a “huge financial burden.”

The town council is set to discuss the proposed consultation at its annual town meeting on April 23 – with cllr Hewitt saying it was imperative that people get involved.

She said: “I think there’s a bit of consultation blindness because we get so many these days – there’s consultations out every single week.

"Plus the people of Sandy responded so well to the town plan consultation, so there could be a tendency for people to think they’ve already done this. But this consultation is going to be key, because it will help inform Central Bedfordshire’s ultimate decisions.”

She added: “We’ve got to try to work together to get the best conclusion for the people of Sandy. It’s a very precious site.”

Central Bedfordshire Council is due to decide whether the consultation will be held at its meeting on April 1. If given the green light, it would start on April 16 and run until July 8.