McCarthy & Stone have withdrawn their application to develop a large multi-storey retirement complex on the former Police Station site in George Lane following the rejection of the Planning Application by Wiltshire Council. So what next? As yet no official announcement by the Office of Police & Crime Commissioner (OPCC) has been made of the withdrawal of McCarthy & Stone but this has been confirmed to marlborough.news, after we found that one possible suitor for that site – Pewsey based Positive Community Action (PCA) had reportedly been informed directly by the OPCC Chief Executive.
The future: PCA want to create a community centre – ‘The Marlborough Sanctuary’, which they describe as ‘a comprehensive “emergency net” for the town’ (click name to view and/or download proposal). Is this what Marlborough needs? Or does the town need more housing – not retirement complex to encourage more older people to move to Marlborough – but housing, at an affordble and viable cost which will enable younger people and families to live and work here. The future generation(s) of the Marlborough, and the town itself will depend on a strong community of productive working age members who can contribute to the local economy.
This shortage of affordable housing has also been made worse by the decision of Wiltshire Council’s in-house’ Housing Association – Stone Circle – not to proceed with their long-planned development of the site of one of the old Railway stations at Cherry Orchard. As the 2023 Local Plan states – Marlborough needs more affordable / Social housing – housing that working people and families can afford. There are many families awaiting housing in and around Marlborough. Housing Associations have been selling off property to developers, reducing the availability of necessary housing. If the population demographic shifts further toward the older group, then maybe school(s) will have to close and waits for doctors appointments will get ever longer. And businesses will find it more difficult to recruit, and all of this will create a negative pressure on Marlborough’s economy – not to mention infrastructure.
So a Marlborough Sanctuary for the community, or affordable housing, or what? A decision that will be driven by the opinion of those in the community and their representatives, be they Councillors at Town or County level. The future of this important and central site should be driven by local democracy.
The value of this site? No idea and not something that the OPCC are prepared to duvulge – or give any indication at this stage. The organisation is duty-bound to seek and extract the maximum value for this (or any other site) as the PCC – Philip Wilkinson made clear when he was explaining why McCarthy & Stone were initially awarded the development. They were going to pay more. Will the PCA be able to cover the cost of – raise funding for – the acquisition of tis site, and then the development of the infrastructure required? Their belief is that this project will be ‘a sustainable, community-led model that directly reduces the financial and logistical pressure on statutory housing and social care budgets.’
This is a debate that will likely be discussed widely moving forwards. We hope that the OPCC will be open with their disclosures, they – as a public body are bound by the ‘Localism Act of 2011’ which is clear about transparency of action and communication so that if and when any announcements about the sale, its progress or acceptable proposal(s) are made, Marlborough will be informed, properly.
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