Charity's land sale wrangle

PLANS to relocate the Chiltern Centre in Henley are being held up by a land wrangle.

The charity, which provides care for disabled young adults, is set to move to a new £3.5 million purpose-built building at the new Highlands Park development, off Greys Road.

But its trustees are yet to reach an agreement with Oxfordshire County Council over the sale of its current site in Chilterns Close, which it needs to help finance the relocation.

They have valued it at £850,000 but the council says this is too high but has not said how much it is willing to pay.

The charity wants to sell the site to the council, rather than on the open market, because the authority has a right of way over the land.

The council wants to buy it because it could then be redeveloped alongside the neighbouring plot of land where the Chilterns End care home used to be before it closed in 2016 and moved to the Townlands Memorial Hospital site.

Finance director Paul Venables told the charity’s annual meeting that the council should agree to an independent valuation or drop its right over the land so the trustees could sell the land to somebody else.

He said: “I think it’s fair to say that this is progressing exceptionally slowly.

“We’re pushing the county council hard to buy our property for a fair price because, if they don’t buy it and we have to sell it to a third party, there are some restrictions on access and that would impact the value of it.

“So, basically, we say: ‘Either buy the site and we’ll agree and have a joint valuation — there’ll be an amount we’re happy with’ or they remove the restriction because we can at least then sell it to a developer.

“Those discussions are still ongoing and we’ve had to kind of elevate it now to the chief executive.

“There is a lot more work to do on that but I think it’s fair to say that three months ago we were making good progress and things are a bit harder today. So timing on that is unknown at the moment and we can’t conclude the sale or complete it until we’ve got that new-build.”

Paul Barrett, the centre’s former chairman who is overseeing the sale, said: “The problem is we’re dealing with land and land is a finite asset. They’re not interested in what you might call the human aspect of this.

“There has got to be a political override to say: ‘We know what your terms of reference are but, in this case, we are going to use discretion and have public interest’.

“Building always takes longer than you believe it should. I think realistically five years, unfortunately.

“I hope I’m wrong and we will certainly be doing our best to make sure it’s three or four, but these things do take time and we have pointed out to the chief executive that he is facing a PR disaster but I think they’re tone deaf to that, actually.”

Under the joint Henley and Harpsden neighbourhood plan, the former Chilterns End site is earmarked for 26 new homes while the Chiltern Centre land would take three.

Mr Venables said it made sense for the council to develop both sites together but until the sale happened the charity couldn’t launch a fundraising appeal.

He said the trustees were set to agree with Crest Nicholson, the Highlands Park developer, a nominal sum of £1 for a one-acre, fully-serviced plot for the new centre but the charity would need to fund the build.

Mr Venables said: “I think if we had an agreement with the council and we knew what we were getting then we’d be comfortable enough to launch the fundraising.

“When we launch it, we’re going to bring in a specialist team but our team will be involved in every aspect of that. With some suitable contingencies in place, it feels like we’re going to need to raise in the region of £2 million. The charity itself is going to throw in about £1 million and then we’ll have the sale of these premises.

“Knowing how much we’re going to have to raise is also tied into when it is going to be built, what the level of construction inflation will be.

“It’s not like the last 10 years where there was minimal construction inflation. It’s a very different market at the moment and then we’ve got the design, the planning and the contracting and build.”

The current centre supports 26 families with respite care but there are 21 more on the waiting list.

The new facility, which will be single storey, will have eight bedrooms and mean the charity will be able to look after more than 50 adults.

Mr Venables said: “We had an increase in demand for our services across the year. We were roughly more than 95 per cent full for overnight beds.

“Quite frankly, if we could magic those four bedrooms into eight bedrooms now, then my guess is we would be full then too.

“When you think about that and the waiting list that we’ve got, it gives a clear rationale for the new-build.

“We can also then have a lot more ongoing daycare. which I think is really important.”

Gareth Groves, who manages the centre, said: “There’s a huge demand for our service, which is great.

“What’s not so great is having to tell families we are unable to support them at the moment.”

County councillor Stefan Gawrysiak told the Henley Standard that he agreed that the council had been “slow” in agreeing a deal.

He said: “We have to recognise that the Chiltern Centre is an asset to South Oxfordshire and Henley and therefore should have a purpose-built building in the town.

“I would hope the council recognises the service that the centre provides and comes to a negotiated settlement that is sensible to both.

“I think the valuation of the site should not be solely based on the value of the land but also the service provided by the centre and that the council should buy the centre’s site and incorporate it into a really good housing development.

“I urge the chief executive and officers involved to just get this sorted because the centre is looking to move in a year-and-a-half.

“I would urge the county council get an independent valuation of the site so at least the negotiations can start on a firm basis.”

Mr Barrett said that following the annual meeting there had been “constructive discussions” with the estates department of the council but still no offer for the land.

A spokeswoman for council said: “We have had positive discussions with the Chiltern Centre with regards their decision to sell their current premises.

“We will continue to have an open dialogue to help support their ambition to move to new facilities.”