East Herts Council ponders best way to sell Bishop’s Stortford shopping parade
Plans to auction off a Bishop’s Stortford shopping parade to help fill a black hole in East Herts Council’s budget have been paused.
The block, known to locals as Havers Parade, is one of six properties EHC needs to sell to raise around £6m to balance its books – including an overspend on the £30m new Hertford theatre BEAM.
The parade is currently home to Dawn to Dusk convenience store, Posh Paws grooming parlour, Lee Garden Chinese takeaway and Fish Inn Kebab fast food.
At a meeting of the council’s cabinet on Tuesday night (October 1), executive member for financial sustainability Cllr Carl Brittain said the pause was to allow “a little more discussion” about the best way to sell the property, which has several tenants. The auction of Southern Maltings, Ware, was delayed for the same reason.
The change contradicted his report to the cabinet: “The public auction route is considered best compared to placing them with local agents or inviting sealed bids. The sale will be quicker and involve less administration. Officers will ensure there is a reserve placed on each asset.”
Cllr Brittain said the review of the two properties with tenants would not cause a significant delay.
The proposed auction of the parade of shops and flats on Elizabeth Road had prompted concerns from two of the town’s Labour councillors.
Central ward members Cllrs David Jacobs and Yvonne Estop told the Indie: “We are very uncomfortable with the sale by public auction of land in community use.
“Sale through an agent enables a full understanding of the nature of the asset. In addition, we are not convinced sale by auction is the way for the council to get best value from the site. We would prefer sale by an agent.”
They said: “As ward councillors, we have been pressing officers over the last year to address the fact that three of the seven shops in this parade have stood empty for several years, costing the council a considerable amount of lost rent and leaving the area in a run-down, dilapidated state.
“We are not opposed in principle to the sale of this site, but we nevertheless have a number of concerns about the proposed sale.”
The pair, who are also town councillors, said it was not clear if the parade – referred to in council documents as “Elizabeth Court, Havers Road, Bishop’s Stortford” – was being sold as a development opportunity or a management responsibility.
They said: “This parade of shops and the open space is at the heart of the Havers estate, and its loss would be seriously detrimental to the wellbeing of residents, many of whom avoid travelling into town when shopping or getting a takeaway.
“We would want to see the council explore options for ensuring the shops are preserved if the parade is sold to a private owner.”
They were also concerned about the impact of any redevelopment on the “settled tenants” of three flats which are part of the lot.
They added: “The benefit to the council from selling this site appears to have been calculated from offsetting the income from rents against the interest paid on loans the council would be able to repay. A net benefit is claimed.
“However, it is not clear whether this calculation includes business rates from these sites. It does appear that the income shown is from the four sites currently occupied – if the council were to let the remaining three properties the business case for selling these properties would be negative.”
They objected to East Herts Council’s 2022 plans to demolish the seven shops and three flats and rebuild with two larger commercial units and a mixture of 10 houses, flats and maisonettes.
Instead, Cllrs Jacobs and Estop are working on a draft improvement plan for the whole neighbourhood centre and will consult businesses and residents.
To reduce its debts, EHC will be pressing ahead with the auction of land at Widford Road, Hunsdon; Great Innings North, Watton at Stone; King George Road, Ware; and adjacent to 65 Sele Road, Hertford.
