With the departure of the BBC from Caversham Park, the question of what to do with the Registered Historic Land and Grade II Listed Buildings that’s there was bound to come up.
And now we have a developer’s proposal – involving conversion of existing buildings and construction of new ones. (For some reason, the proposal flits between ‘construction’ and ‘erection’ – I have no idea why.)
The proposals, fairly vague as they are, are available (below) as two pdfs to download. Note, in particular, the use of words and phrases such as:
- “opportunities to enhance local facilities … will be created …” (Which, of course, offers no commitment to act on any such opportunities).
- “There may be opportunities to allow public access.” (But, obviously enough, there may not be.)
And do keep in mind that for all the talk in the proposal about a care home, the proposal also includes building both “open market” and “affordable” homes on Caversham Park. There are no details about what these two aspects of the proposals will entail in reality, nor what the developers will decide is “affordable”. Somehow, I doubt they will be affordable by someone on minimum wage and a zero hours contract.
As you’ll see from the pdfs, you are invited by the developer to visit Caversham Park on the 21st October between 2pm and 9pm to view the proposals. There is parking on the site. They ask you to register your interest beforehand, by email. I’ve included the link below as well.
