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NO HOUSES IN BUILE HILL PARK CONFIRMS SALFORD CITY MAYOR
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Star date: 20th February 2019 OFF SITE LAND DEVELOPMENT MIGHT PAY FOR MANSION RESTORATION At a meeting last week of the Buile Hill Mansion Support Group, Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett confirmed that there will be no residential development in the Park as part of a deal to renovate the Mansion. Meanwhile, Tim Heatley, of developer Capital and Centric, tells the Salford Star that one way of paying for the Mansion restoration would be for Salford City Council to provide land off site from Buile Hill Park, and that the rental would offset the costs. Full details here...
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Last week, around 35 people attended a meeting of the Buile Hill Mansion Support Group, including Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett, who confirmed that no residential buildings would be erected in Buile Hill Park. The original plan was for developer Capital and Centric to build around sixty houses in the former depot area of the Park, which would finance to restoration of the Mansion but after public protests the proposal was dropped. Yesterday, Tim Heatley of Capital and Centric told the Salford Star that the restoration of the Mansion is still very much on the cards... "We know what we can't do and what isn't acceptable...houses or things with a residential use to them...but if not that, what?" he asked "We need you to tell us. There's a lot of mistrust, confusion and uncertainty but we still want to see it happen, we still want to see it restored, converted and back in use. But how we do that and how that is paid for is to be determined. "There are some suggestions of land swops" he added "We could loan some land off the city for a period of time to build some homes, and then rent those out and the income that creates pays for the restoration of the Mansion and the grounds. It would prevent the ownership going into private hands because ultimately the Council own the houses at the end, we get our money back through rental income. "It does leave a question mark over what you do with the depot area" he explained "Does that become some other recreation space, gardens, artists' studios, or grassed over? There's going to be a cost and no value. We need to create value somewhere else, so where else can we create homes?" Heatley added that he'd prefer land in Salford on the edge of Manchester city centre and that the restoration of the Mansion could begin as soon as some land had been identified and a legal agreement was in place with Council, possibly within the next twelve months. Meanwhile Salford Council has commissioned surveys to find out the current state of the building and the accurate cost of restoration, which the developer had originally put at around £4million. Heatley now reckons it could take around 45 years for his company to get its money back, up from 15 years had houses been built in the Park... "The more complex the challenge, the longer the view you have to take..." As far as the depot area goes, he reckons that could be a second phase, turfed over in the meantime and then developed further for non-residential use in the future.... "I'm conscious that we have got to consult with the people of Salford to see what is possible" he concluded "By summertime we should have an idea of what people think." The gathering of people's views will be done through community committees throughout the city and the Council magazine. Long term Mansion campaigner, Mary Ferrer, who set up the Buile Hill Mansion Support Group and hosted last week's meeting, says that she's still 'concerned' about the scheme.. "Obviously something is going to have to happen with the former stable area but what that is I don't know; there's been lots of ideas over the last nine months but nothing has been said" she explains "It's still a worry as to what is going in the heart of the Park, although the Mayor definitely said there would be no housing. "It's now down to the Council to find a plot of land that Tim Heatley wants to build on" she adds "I don't know whether the Council will give him the land and in return he will renovate the Mansion. It's still all up in the air...."
For a full background see previous Salford Star articles - click here and click here
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Bob the regular wrote
at 08:11:42 on 27 February 2019 |
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| A pound to a pinch these nice houses our 2 socialists Tim and Dennett are going to build will not be affordable, even at the rates the council use for affordability (rent equal to what the dole will pay according to size. About £110 a week for one bed flat).They will not be for people on the housing list, no way. Also, the problem is, what are we going to do with the old depot in the park? Most people do not know how big it is as they have never been there.Just look at the google earth map of it. You have to do something, it can not be left festering for ever. This depot itself shows how the council waste money. The garden crews and highways were there, where are they now? why did they have to move out? This site is like the brexit row in the big madhouse in London. In our city there is a majority of people against what cannot be done, but only small minorities in favour of what can be done there. The trouble is people just do not know what they want there. who cares anyway, let them all make a balls of it. that is what they are good at. |
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Mary Ferrer wrote
at 12:40:45 on 26 February 2019 |
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| At the meeting people came up with different sites, which are in the heart of Salford. I feel that capital and centric work in more upmarket areas like the middle of the park. I am just hoping a plot can be found and the project moves forward. Tim Heatley would get good publicity if he could get this project off the ground. And we would get the MANSION back to its former glory.we cant change any part of the outside of the building because it's grade 2. We could put a conservatry on the footprint of the original.
The mayor did come up with some issues, that hadn't been there before.Putting the project of building houses out to tender and if it would be legal to give land to capital and centric. But as I understand it, we are not giving the land away it would stay in the ownershipof the council,the houses would also be owned by the council.the cost to be paid back over 35 years from the rental from the houses???
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Just think about it wrote
at 09:13:32 on 26 February 2019 |
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| If our saviour Tim is just Loaning the land from the council, and he is going to give it back to them in the end after renting it out to I presume Salford people, then why does it have to be land near Manchester city centre? Shouldn't this land he desires be near one of our many centres like the Precinct, swinton precinct, walkden or eccles centre? That way, the money the people living in these dwellings would spend their money there rather than m/c city centre, or is Tim looking to house the supposedly better class of yuppy types who work in manchester city centre? Tim, you have not fooled me, but for sure you will fool our town hall idiots, like you seem to have fooled some of our normally shrewdest correspondents. |
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Bob the regular wrote
at 07:37:27 on 25 February 2019 |
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| The listed building people would not allow statues to be used to support the portico. However, bringing statues of Greek gardening gods to Buille Hill might be a good idea, (If you include the other god Antheia as well).You could put them in the little garden in between the depot and the mansion.you could also make them much larger. A couple of years ago, I was talking to an Italian guy who had a cnc machine that made these statues, and they are not as expensive as you think. What you do is make a small statue from clay, and the cnc machine scans and cuts it out for you in large scale. No big hammers and chisels any more. The people who make the cash are the arty farty types who make the clay original. I agree these statues would be a tourist attraction, but there is one problem, car parking. Most people who go to the park live local and walk there. It does them good.But with tourists there is a problem,they go by car, and you only have to look at when there is a fair or bonfire night in the park. However, where there is a problem, our council can always think of a remedy. Since we are not building on the old depot, something has to be done with it. A great big car park would be the answer. Dennett and his mates love car parks. Lots of easy money squeezed out of his mortal enemies, the car owning, anti public transportist , anti political correctness brigade.People like me. |
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Dave wrote
at 07:37:04 on 25 February 2019 |
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| Bobs suggestion about building a very small number of high end mansions on the depot site does have merit. A few years ago ,an architect showed me some of the things he had done on uni projects and he said that for most of them, this is the only time they get the chance to express their creative thoughts, as when they go into practice it all gets knocked out of them. Why dont our council put up a prize for say groups of young architects at Salford and manchester uni to see what they can come up with. I think you would be pleased with the ideas you might see. It would also entice interested parties as well who might wish to purchase plots. At the very least it would keep our students out of the pub. |
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Rayofsunshine wrote
at 12:24:47 on 24 February 2019 |
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| "45 years to get the money back" - just who does
Mr.Heatley think he's fooling?? We should walk away from suçh blatant asset stripping! Instead consideration should be given to raise a permissable Council Tax Precept to fund the protection of heritage sites,such as Buile Hill. |
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bring culture to Salford wrote
at 12:24:23 on 24 February 2019 |
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| Denis might have hit a point about bringing a bit of culture to Salford. The columns holding up the portico look a bit drab and past their sell by date.I think it would be nice to replace these with statues like they have at the Parthenon in Greece.I suggest the ancient greek god of the gardens ,Priapus, surrounded on either side by his 4 helpers the Hesperides. Our Mayor comes from Warrington, and he will know the cultural benefits the town hall gates bring there with tourists ect. I am sure he would love our 5 statues, and I am sure they would be a great many Salford people would get to love them as well as the tourists they would bring. |
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Dennis wrote
at 12:23:57 on 24 February 2019 |
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| Sorry Bob the Regular,but "The council could not make a balls of this", so wrong. Salford council would make a ball of anything they touch. I totally agree with everything else you say. |
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Denis Whiteside wrote
at 07:13:35 on 23 February 2019 |
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| It states in the article....”There’s going to be a cost and no value “.
The value of a restored Buile Hill Museum lies in the huge cultural benefit to the people of Salford. Buile HillMuseum inspired and entertained generations up until it closed due to lack of funding and the ensuing neglect in the creative sector.
Peel Park and the Lowry are both good but the Buile Hill building and surroundings are unique. They mustn’t be taken away from public perpetual ownership on a one way trip to private concerns. It belongs to the people of Salford, not a committee of monetary interested investors. Capital and Centric should concentrate on developing privately owned properties and areas that are available on the market in districts that are in and around the City.
Nobody should be allowed to buy and develop on publicly owned Parks. We must be allowed the freedom to enjoy the few parks that are left to relax and enjoy. That is their value, and the cost of losing that is much more than we can imagine. |
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Mary Ferrer wrote
at 07:12:01 on 23 February 2019 |
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| At least we won't be having housing within the park. I just hope the council can find a plot of land that suits the needs of Capital and centric, so they can renovate the Mansion. But there is legal issues that need to be addressed, before we can move forward. From the meeting last Tuesday the group have started to come together. We have 8/9 people who want to help form a working party. The mayor seemed sencere when he said there would be no housing within the park and he wants to work with the residents to bring the Mansion and park back to its former glory |
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Bob the regular wrote
at 07:10:58 on 23 February 2019 |
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| Clearly 60 odd houses is too much, but something has to be done with that former depot area. At the minute it is just a mish mash of old workshops ,offices, piles of builders/gardeners junk, vehicle repair shop etc. These are the established uses for that land as far as planning goes and if they were sold off, thats what they could be legally used for. Is this what our concerned residents want? Of course not. Why not do as I suggested and put 8 or even 6 super building plots in there. Ideal for BBC media types. The council could not make a balls of this, or could they? Look at the Royal Parks in London. There are lots of houses in these, very top end.These plots could easily fetch £1million each, enough cash to fix that old mansion up for whatever. Where do we get the £4million restoration costs from? Tim does not tell us, perhaps he does not know. Despite owning a big development company,after all he is only a lawyer. I know more about construction than he ever will. The only major problems I can envisage there in that building are ones caused by the councils neglect. gutters overflowing ect, letting water in and causing rot, lack of ventilation.To do old buildings like that you need specialists, like the people who are rebuilding the old ascension church. I know for sure that there are people in the high command at Urban vision /the council ,who know what I am talking about,and I know of a couple there that know what needs to be done. What I don't know though is if they have made their voices heard, or perhaps they are just fed up with the whole lot and just waiting till their time comes up for early retirement.Just thinking, why don't they send over to Deggsy in Liverpool to see if he can help em out. In his days in the wilderness he used to do a bit of property development didn't he? |
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Dc wrote
at 07:06:56 on 23 February 2019 |
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| Recreation space, gardens, artist's studios.... no value?!
That comment alone says so much about property developers. |
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former resident wrote
at 07:03:57 on 23 February 2019 |
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| If we need to save this building, why do we not let it be used for the purpose that it was built for. That is,as a residence for one family. The council could sell it to the highest bidder on strict conditions worked into the agreement that the buyer had both the money and knowledge to restore this building to the standard it should be in. By means of a restrictive covenant, this condition could be enforced on subsequent buyers. Just look at the picture above. It is obvious water and mold are getting into this building. The council have proved beyond all doubt that they are not fit to look after this building, so they should let someone else with a bit of nous have a go. No doubt this idea will not please a lot of people who do not like the idea of people with a bit of money living in grand houses, you know, the green eyed jealous ones, but if this house gets done up, so what. |
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