£8m boost for sports village after council sells off land (From Basildon Recorder)

£8m boost for sports village after council sells off land

1:30pm Monday 26th October 2009

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BASILDON Council has sold Markhams Chase Leisure Centre, and three other pieces of land, raising more than £8million towards the town’s sporting village.

The centre, and land at Cranes Farm Road, currently the home of the South Essex Gymnastics Club, have been sold for £7.9m to Bellway Homes.

Two smaller sites, including a historic cottage, at Sun Street, Billericay, and a block of garages, in Wickford, both achieved above the guide price at auction.

The cash raised will go towards the much-heralded Olympic sporting village, under construction at Gloucester Park, at a cost of £38million.

Council leader Tony Ball said: “This is excellent news, and we are pleased to have sold four sites so quickly after construction has begun on the village.

“We are very pleased with the prices achieved, highlighting that land prices are rising.

“We set challenging targets for all of the sites, and we have achieved above what we expected so far. This bodes well for future sales.”

He also welcomed an additional £3million to be pumped into the project by Essex County Council, as revealed in Wednesday’s Echo, taking County Hall’s total contribution to £8million.

The extra cash came from profits taken from the sale of Fryerns School, sold as part of the ongoing regeneration of Basildon’s Craylands Estate.

Mr Ball added: “Essex County Council has been fully supportive throughout the project. Additional income from external bodies is welcome, as it means less borrowing will be needed.”

Cranes Farm Road and Markhams Chase both have outline planning permission to provide new housing for the district.

The South Essex Gymnastics Club will move to the sporting village when it opens, in April 2011.

The land at Markhams Chase will become available for construction when the current leisure centre closes after the sporting village opens.

Charlie Hart, partner at Knight Frank, a property letting agent acting on behalf of the council, said: “The sale of the Cranes Farm Road and Markhams Chase sites are yet another indication of improving market conditions.

“After seeing very little activity in the preceding 12 months, we have seen activity pick up significantly in the last six weeks”

The other properties sold were Number 13 Sun Street, in Billericay, the former home of the Billericay Historical Society, which went for £115,000, and garages at Rettendon View, Wickford, which sold for £318,000. Land at Rosebay Avenue, Billericay, is currently under offer.

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