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For sale: the school site in Finsbury |
£7m ‘family silver’ school site at centre of sale battle
LABOUR MP Emily Thornberry has vowed that the fight to stop the former Moorfields School site in Finsbury being sold to a private developer will continue, even though the land is now on the market.
Campaigners who oppose the sale have accused Islington Council of recklessly disposing of “the family silver”. The Town Hall hopes sale of the land in Bunhill Row will fetch £7million.
Glossy adverts have appeared in national property magazines and the sale has been put in the hands of real estate giant Cushman and Wakefield.
Since the one-acre site overlooking historic Bunhill Fields burial ground went on the market two weeks ago, there have been more than 150 expressions of interest.
When the decision to sell the site was approved by the council’s executive in June, Ms Thornberry, Islington South and Finsbury MP, vowed to call on Education Secretary Ed Balls to halt the plans.
She said: “It’s disgraceful that the council is in such a hurry to sell off so much public land, particularly this site, which is in an area in prime need of youth facilities.
“The Liberal Democrats are good at slipping away from their responsibilities.”
She added: “I wrote to the Secretary of State and I have spoken to him about my strong views against the plans. This is not something the public want.”
In a glossy brochure produced by Cushman and Wakefield, the site is described as having a “prime City fringe” location and being in an “archaeological priority area”.
Campaigners have questioned whether the expected £7million windfall from the sale will be achieved during a property slump.
Featherstone Street resident Vince Mitchell, who has been leading the (SOS) Save Our Silver campaign, along with neighbours, said: “The expected bid is £7 million but they are under an obligation to get the best value. With property prices falling and the credit crunch, if they sell it now they are not going to get best value. If they sell it now the only people who are going to win are speculators.”
He added: “We think they are selling off the family silver. This is a prime piece of silver – one piece too far. There’s a lot of resentment about what the council is doing.”
But Lib Dem council leader Councillor James Kempton said: “I am told by the experts that this is a unique property with some unique selling points. We’ll only go ahead with the sale in the current climate if we get a sensible price.
“Prior Western School moved out of the building at the end of March. It hasn’t been needed since then.”
The Town Hall’s head of property David Lewis said the site would be sold through an informal tender process, with a mid-October deadline.
He added: “A decision on whether to proceed with a sale will be taken in the light of the bids received and whether these are reasonable offers. We have a statutory duty to obtain the best price when selling surplus property assets.”
Prospective developers will be asked to make an initial bid for the site, then agree a further payment depending on planning permission.
Mike Sudlow, who is leading the sale for Cushman and Wakefield, said the bidding process would help the council achieve the optimum amount for the site, because the value would be unlocked with planning permission.
He added: “It’s a very strong location and has a lot of potential for getting additional profits. Nobody’s going to sell this without getting the maximum price.
“We genuinely believe this is the right time to sell.” |
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