Farmland

Wineham Investments subsequently put to Auction on 11 October 2011, the 10.8 acres of woodland to the west side of Dunmail Drive (on the right side, going up the hill from Mitchley Hill but excluding the Scout hut). This woodland was not sold at Auction but was sold “subsequently for an undisclosed amount” to an unknown purchaser.

Six parcels of land in our area are being put up for auction on 12 September 2011 by Barnard Marcus. This sale is on behalf of Wineham Investments, the Company who purchased the land from Taylor Wimpey in 2009.

The six plots are:

Lot 72 – 16.7 acres of farmland in Mitchley Ave (opposite the shops). - Unsold, the last bid was £197,000 and is available at £240,000.

Lot 73 – 10.8 acres of woodland running up on the right side of Dunmail Drive (west) from Mitchley Hill. - Unsold, the last bid was £50,000. Please refer to Auctioneer for Reserve.

Lot 139 – 13.5 acres of farmland on north side of Mitchley Hill (eastern part) – (being split in two with Lot 140). - Withdrawn Prior to Auction.

Lot 140 - 11.4 acres of farmland on north side of Mitchley Hill and east side of Rectory Park(being split in two with Lot 139). - Withdrawn Prior to Auction.

Lot 143 - 4.6 acres of woodland and paddock at end of Grisedale Gardens up to Dunmail Drive (north side of “white path”). - Unsold, the last bid was £85,000 and is available at £100,000.

Lot 144 – 1.7 acres of woodland behind properties in Grisedale Gardens and Honister Heights and Dunmail Drive. - Unsold, the last bid was £160,000 and is available at £200,000.

Although not detailed in the Auction details, all the land is Greenbelt Land and under current planning rules, cannot be built on with houses. Some of the plots also have a blanket Tree Preservation Orders on them, so no trees can be felled without prior approval from Croydon Council. Croydon Council’s Planning Department have said they will again write to the auctioneers and request that this is pointed out to potential bidders at the auction. The RRA will continue to monitor the situation and liaise closely with the Sanderstead Ward Councillors and Croydon Planning Department who are being very supportive.

UPDATE OCTOBER 2010

Report taken from Riddlesdown Recorder October 2010

MITCHLEY WOODS AND NEARBY LAND

Once again I find myself returning to this subject. In my last report I mentioned that Taylor Wimpey had put their substantial land holding of 73 acres in Riddlesdown up for sale. Despite our attempts in partnership with the City of London and Riddlesdown Collegiate, to buy a key ten-acre plot in Mitchley Woods, all the land was sold to a single investment company. We understand the price paid was £525,000 plus VAT – well beyond our reach. However, within a few weeks the new owners placed several sections of the land on the market to be sold at auction.

The four acres of land along Honister Heights was sub-divided into 14 small plots but only six were offered for auction. Other sections of land for sale were a two-acre plot off Mitchley Avenue and two plots of ten and four acres either side of Dunmail Drive. The Committee met to discuss a possible bid for the ten-acre plot of woodland adjacent to Dunmail Drive.

On examination of the legal documentation the Committee concluded that the plot was being sold without a right of access from Dunmail Drive or Mitchley Avenue. This would make it difficult to maintain the land to a safe standard for people to walk though it.

The Committee also discussed the agreement concerning overage payable to Taylor Wimpey and how this might be triggered, should we manage to negotiate access, leaving the RRA liable for further payments. The overage is 25% of any uplift in value of the site arising from the granting of planning permission for any non-agricultural uses. The Committee, therefore, took the decision not to bid at this auction. However, at the auction, Riddlesdown Collegiate purchased a plot of land running from the school boundary, adjacent to the school gate, to the corner of Honister Heights. Two smaller plots along Honister Heights were also sold, post auction, to two private individuals; the remaining plots were left unsold. The small two-acre plot off Mitchley Avenue was also sold, but the RRA is confident that the new owner of this land will continue to ensure its Green Belt status.

The two large plots adjacent to Dunmail Drive, including the one we were interested in, did not reach their reserve price. With a reserve set at £50,000, coupled with legal fees, potential access costs and possible overage payments, the final price for this ten-acre site might have exceeded £70,000. The current situation is that over 40 private investors now own around 100 acres of Green Belt land. At a subsequent meeting of the Association, the Committee took the view that to continue in our attempt to purchase what would be a relatively small single plot of land within this large and very over-priced land bank was no longer our best option. The RRA Committee took the decision that given the current position, the best way to protect our Green Belt land with our limited resources was to ensure that all landowners fully complied with all Green Belt and ancient woodland legislation.

An example of this was demonstrated at the recent auction; the Committee believed that the description of the land offered for sale in the catalogue was misleading. As a result, a letter from Croydon Council was read out at the auction prior to bidding. This explained to potential bidders a number of fundamental and crucial planning matters, the absence of which painted a very misleading picture in regard to the development potential of these plots. We believe that this information provided to potential bidders resulted in many of the plots remaining unsold. The Association is currently reviewing all areas of Green Belt protection, including tree protection orders, rights of way, and the use of an Article 4 within the Green Belt to remove the entitlement to undertake development that would ordinarily not require planning permission.

In 2013, the farmer’s lease on the two large farm fields off Mitchley Avenue and Mitchley Hill expires. The Association will need to be in a position to challenge any potential application for any change of status to this land from its current agricultural use. I would again remind residents that it has now been more than four years since the land owned by Mitchley Wood Estate Trust was put up for sale. Despite these initial sales, all the land still firmly remains Green Belt and little has changed.

However, with speculators having now invested more than £1m to buy land, the Association needs to review its future strategy. We believe that a proactive protection and enforcement policy is now the most effective way to protect the Green Belt and ancient woodlands of Riddlesdown. This strategy will require the Association, from time to time, to seek and engage professional advice and legal opinion relating to land legislation. The fighting fund so generously given by residents will now, as necessary and appropriate, be used to support this new RRA strategy to protect the Green Belt land of Riddlesdown.

However I would add that the RRA would not rule out a possible future bid for land should conditions be right. To this end the Association will continue to work closely with other interested partners including the Corporation of London, Croydon Parks, Riddlesdown Collegiate, local friendly land holders, local Councillors, MPs, Croydon Council Planning, and other local Residents’ Associations.

Since our formation in 1937, the Association has on many occasions needed to defend the open and pleasant aspect of Riddlesdown and, with your help, we will continue to do so. Thank you all for your continuing support in this matter.

Update as at 14 March 2010

The RRA has learnt that the sale to an unknown bidder has fallen through and all the land is again for sale, as one lot, via the Agents Savills. The RRA will continue to monitor the situation.

The prices of the lots sold at the auction on 26 May 2010 were as follows:

Lots 16 -21 Land Honister Hts

Lot 16 (A) - Honister Hts - Sold £10k

Lot 17 (B) - Sold £10k

Lot 18 (C) - withdrawn

Lot 19 (F) - Unsold - Reserve £15k - nearest bid £11.5k

Lot 20 (G) - Unsold - Reserve £15k - nearest bid £12.5K

Lot 21 (M) - Sold - £30K

Lot 52 - Land Mitchley Ave - Sold £95k

Lot 61 - Land/Woodland adj School - Sold £50k

Lot 110 - Woodland, Adj Mitchley Ave - Unsold - reserve £50k - nearest bid £48k

Lot 112 - Mitchley Hill land - Unsold - Reserve £30k - nearest bid £26k

TAYLOR WIMPEY PUT UP FARMLAND

AND WOODLAND FOR SALE

September 2009

The RRA Committee are aware that all the land owned by Taylor Wimpey, which comprises the farmland off Mitchley Hill, farmland off Mitchley Avenue, Mitchley Wood, and woodlands off Dunmail Drive and woodland in Honister Heights, is all currently on the market for freehold sale, either as one or in separate lots.

This land is all greenbelt land and subject to current planning laws and is not available for development.

The committee will be monitoring this situation very carefully.

Update 17.9.09: The RRA has learnt from the agents, Savills, that this land was subject to 'best and final offers' on Friday 11 Sept 09 and that all 6 plots are currently under offer to a single unknown bidder.