Woking bankruptcy claims latest victim as regeneration loses GP, nursery and community centre
19 new flats are set to be built on a site previously earmarked for a GP and children’s nursery.
Sheerwater regeneration project was set to see a new medical centre, children’s nursery and community hub after the council borrowed hundreds of millions, to transform the borough – including replacing derelict housing and ageing infrastructure in the village.
The council began by tearing down the newer buildings, leaving the ones most in need of replacing until the end. However, the council ran out of money with debts of more than £2 billion before finishing the project.
The regeneration program promised new housing, modern doctor clinics, and more, but following the Tuesday, April 15 planning committee, it was announced that councillors approved plans to build 19 new flats in place of previously agreed medical centre, children’s nursery, and community building.
Sheerwater will have to continue using the old sites that had long been earmarked for demolition. Councillor Rob Leach (Liberal Democrats; St Johns) said: “It’s important to note that it’s regrettable that were not able to replace the community centre and the health centre, but that is a matter of fact given our current financial restrictions and therefore it seems to me to be making the best of a difficult job.”
Replacing the previously approved buildings with flats was fine, planners told the meeting, because the dilapidated ones were now being kept because “as long as the existing health centre was retained there was no need, no financial mitigation” to create a new one.
The community and health centres will be replaced with a mixture of single storey flats and duplexes. The nursery space that had been previously approved will also be replaced with flats. Outdoor space reserved for the nursery will be split among a portion of the new flats that have direct access, the remainder will be used as a communal garden.
The dental and pharmacy spaces as well as the retail frontages along Dartmouth Avenue are to be retained.
Councillor Daryl Jordan (Independent; Byfleet and West Byfleet) said the “lack of three bed” homes being built as it would “cause more crowding, it causes more rubbish, and it affects lifestyle. He said: “All these pretty pictures of trees and cycle routes is lovely for planners and architects but the result is we end up paying for the problems, not housing people properly.”