12 Oct Sempra Homes completes purchase of Wickford police station land to develop homes
Sempra Homes has completed the purchase of the former Wickford Police Station with a view to developing the site into new homes for key workers, veterans and borough residents.
Sempra, which is Basildon Council’s wholly owned house building company, has purchased the site from Essex Police to develop the site as part of the council’s new homes programme.
The homes will be for shared ownership and affordable rent and made available to borough residents and key workers.
Leader of Basildon Council Councillor Gavin Callaghan has welcomed the opportunity to provide much needed quality housing on a site which has been disused for three years.
He said: “This is great news for Wickford that a key site such as this will now provide housing opportunities after being disused for so long.
“We couldn’t miss this opportunity to quickly increase the supply of new homes and make them available to local people in need. Once built, these new homes will be marketed to veterans of the Armed Forces, the borough’s key workers and residents to give them the opportunity to get on the property ladder and put down roots in the borough.
“We’re pleased to have been able to work with our public sector partners to ensure land and assets are made best use of for the benefit of our residents.”
Manager of Sempra Homes Melanie Keys said: “We are delighted to have acquired this site to bring forward for new housing. Working in partnership with the council to deliver regeneration in Wickford the scheme will be designed to enhance the street scene with additional benefits provided through the provision of work opportunities to local residents through our construction contracts and use of local supply chains.”
Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, said: “We are really glad that we have got such a community minded buyer for this former police station. The proceeds from the sale will be invested back into Essex Police.”
“We need to deliver as much funding to frontline operational policing as possible rather than pour money into maintaining buildings that have long since ceased to be viable for the demands of modern policing.”
