Many people have been wondering what has been happening in respect of Chilton Woods the massive development that is planned north of Sudbury . News has also been a little sparse in respect of the new health facilities in the Town.
Some information was forthcoming about both of these issues at Tuesday night’s Parish Council meeting at Chilton.
As far as Chilton Woods is concerned, Ashwells, the developer of the site, was put into administration at the end of last year for being in breach of its loan covenants when Lloyds took a look at the loan book that it had acquired with HBOS. The company’s ‘viable’ assets were transferred to a new company called Brookgate, and it is understood that these include those relating to Chilton Woods . However, it is understood that no land at Chilton has actually been purchased to date by the developers, so what we are talking about here is just plans, agreements and aspirations.
Lloyds are shareholders in Brookgate, as are some former directors of Ashwells, and it seems that the scheme is still alive. Given the state of the housing market at present, with first time buyers having to negotiate quite high hurdles to obtain funds, I would not hold my breath with regard to the first planning permission reaching Babergh however. Unfortunately this has serious implications for Babergh’s affordable homes pipeline.
There is more certain news about the health facilities. It has still not been decided which of the two potential sites, the old Walnuttree Hospital, or the new site on Church Field Road, will ultimately be selected but a decision should not be too far distant now as the final assessments and reports are currently being prepared. The 12 NHS managed beds in Sudbury are to close, but these are to be transferred into the private sector where they will continue to be financed by the NHS. Members of the PCT Locality Group have visited a number of nursing and residential homes in the Sudbury area and negotiations are in hand to find suitable private beds to replace those previously provided by the NHS.
