The former Fairmile Hospital is to be redeveloped by Linden Homes for English Partnerships. A thorough consultation has taken place but there remain concerns that a development of more than 300 homes will be difficult to harmonise with the existing village, as well as with Moulsford and Wallingford. CPRE Wallingford is monitoring the proposal closely.

News Update:

June 2008:

English Partnerships plans to turn the Fair Mile Hospital site in Cholsey, into a flagship development by combining heritage with regeneration. Linden Homes was contracted as the developer to regenerate the site in March 2007 by a panel including representatives from English Partnerships and English Heritage.

English Partnerships will be working with Linden Homes to provide commercial, community and leisure facilities to create a mixed-use, sustainable neighbourhood that integrates with the existing community in Cholsey.

The site has the potential to provide a significant number of the new homes required for the area, and the final numbers will be decided as part of the planning process. In total, 40 per cent of the homes will be classed as affordable, offering a mixture of social rented and shared-ownership.

English Partnerships and Linden Homes have jointly prepared a planning submission for 341 homes, some refurbished units within the listed buildings and some new build. English Partnerships will continue to consult with the local authority and the local community through a series of public consultations.

A planning application will be submitted to South Oxfordshire District Council in summer 2008.

CPRE Wallingford has concerns that such a large development would have serious implications for schooling, shops, roads and traffic, and would transform the character of Cholsey which currently has a population of 3000. It will be watching progress on this major venture and commenting as necessary.

The Fair Mile Community Planning Process:

A Fair Mile Community Forum Meeting was held on Tuesday 17 June at 7.30pm at Cholsey School. The design team presented the emerging scheme for the redevelopment of the hospital site.

A Community Planning Weekend (CPW) was held on 27 and 28 April 2007. Over 250 people from the local area took part in workshops, took guided walks around the site and formed "hands-on" Planning Groups focusing on a wide range of issues.

Following this a draft vision and masterplan were developed for the redevelopment of the Fair Mile Hospital and presented at a public meeting held on 1 May 2007.

Interested local residents continued to meet throughout the summer of 2007 giving over 1,000 hours of their time to working with the consultant team on a range of topics:

Movement and Transport; the Wider Impact; the Environment; Employment; Young People; Sport and Leisure; Site Layout; Heritage and Parking; Management Structures.

• Click here to download a brief Executive Summary which outlines the findings of the CPW and the Vision that has resulted.

Background:

English Partnerships is the government organisation set up by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to handle the disposal of sites surplus to government. Fairmile Hospital, lying between Cholsey and the Thames, was formerly owned by the Berkshire Mental Health Trust. The last patients were moved to a new building in Reading in 2004. Preliminary discussions on future use of the site were discussed with the Parish Council and South Oxfordshire District Council beginning in 2002. At the time a proposal to build 150 homes, while retaining certain structures among the Victorian buildings, found general favour. So it was that SODC’s Local Plan 2011, finally approved early in 2006, blessed this plan.

In 2004, Mr Prescott announced that disposals of surplus sites were to become the responsibility of his department. Nothing had been heard until February 2006 when the monster stirred, referring to the notion of 370 houses being planned. Developers were short listed and the closing date for proposals was June. This is a brownfield site and it is understood that at least 40% of the new homes are to be 'affordable' and built to EcoHome standards.

Arnold Grayson, Chairman CPRE South Oxfordshire. June 2006

Further Information

• Fair Mile Regeneration website