We’re pleased to announce that the council has completed the transfer of ownership for the former Secondary School site at Carn Thomas to LiveWest Housing Association. This will allow LiveWest to move forward with their plans to build up to 27 affordable homes on the site. You can view the designs on LiveWest’s website. LiveWest is still welcoming feedback on these designs, so please feel free to contact them using the feedback form linked to within the article.
The terms of the transfer of ownership make the following requirements of LiveWest:
- To make reasonable endeavours to submit an application for planning permission within 12 months of 31 March 2023
- To start work on site within 12 months from planning consent
- To complete the development within 3 years of commencing work on the site
- Not to use any of the homes developed now, or in the future, for any use other than occupation as sole or main residences
Councillor Tim Dean, Lead Member for Housing and Corporate Estate said: I’m delighted that ownership of the land at Carn Thomas has now been transferred to LiveWest, enabling the housing association to begin development at the site and getting us another step closer to relieving some of the pressures of the current housing crisis. It has taken a considerable amount of time and hard work to get to this stage, beginning in 2016 when the process of demolishing the old secondary school building began. More recently, the allocation of £315,000 of land release funding has enabled us to clear and de-risk the site before handing it over for development. With this announcement closely following the recent call for applications for self or custom build plots at the Ennor Farm site, we have every reason to feel much more hopeful about the islands’ future housing situation.”
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Land Release Fund
The Land Release Fund provides capital funding for land remediation and small-scale infrastructure to local authorities across England, to bring otherwise unviable local authority-owned sites forward for housing. It is delivered by the One Public Estate programme which is a collaboration between Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, the Local Government Association and the Cabinet Office. This funding has helped to de-risk the Carn Thomas site and allow the land to be released for affordable housing delivery.