The leader of Bath & North East Somerset Council is being asked to approve a £3.2 million loan to buy land at Keynsham Health Centre and develop it for housing.
Keynsham Health Centre, where there is ‘surplus’ NHS land
The council has a development loan facility agreement in place with Aequus Construction Limited (ACL), a company it owns.
ACL has been working on a number of site opportunities and the report being considered by Councillor Kevin Guy says: “The site at Keynsham Health Centre has been subject to positive engagement and discussion over the past 12 months with NHS Property Services Ltd.
“This has led to a number of potential opportunities being identified and the ability for Aequus, as a wholly-owned council company, to acquire identified surplus sites directly from the NHS.”
Part of the health centre site at St Clements Road has been identified as “surplus” and, subject to planning permission, has the potential for up to seven family homes.
All the homes would be “good quality” and developed to meet the council’s sustainability planning policy standards.
Councillor Guy is being asked to approve the development loan borrowing of up to £3.2 million on the commercial terms set out in the business case.
This is an exempt part of the report which has “commercially sensitive” information. The decision is set to be taken on or after this Saturday, 16th August.
Earlier this year planning permission was granted to redevelop Treetops, the derelict nursing home site next to the health centre in St Clements Road.
Since Treetops closed in 2018, there had been several attempts to redevelop the land, both for housing and for a care home.
In February the council’s planning committee voted to grant outline planning permission for 36 flats on the site in two three-storey blocks.
The development will not include any affordable housing as the council’s officers agreed with the developer’s assessment that it would not be financially viable.
