CONTRACTS EXCHANGED ON TIMBER YARD SALE

CONTRACTS have been exchanged with a developer who wants to demolish the Wenban-Smith timber merchant's warehouse in Lewes and build up to 60 flats in its place.

Wenban-Smith in its turn is seeking another suitable site to re-locate to in the town.

T

he company was only recently able to get flood insurance cover on its riverside property near Waitrose.

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Timber merchants have been operating from the Eastgate Wharf site for the past 100 years.

Wenban director Peter Kemp-Potter this week confirmed that contracts had been exchanged with Barratt Homes. The sale would go through, subject go planning permission.

'At the moment I can't say much more,' he said. 'I assume Barratt are working on a suitable planning application.

'We have had a terrible time trying to get flood insurance since 2000. It was only recently that we managed to get adequate cover.

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'We have no desire to leave Lewes. We are looking for a new site in the town and have every intention of keeping our nine employees.'

The company will probably seek a smaller site than the 25,000 sq ft it currently occupies.

Trevor Sawyer, managing director of Barratt Southern Counties, said: 'We are currently in discussion with the local planning authority regarding the proposals for the Wenban-Smith site.

'We will not be submitting a formal planning application until we have held public consultation to determine the opinions of the local residents.'

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