More progress

I have been worrying about the stop-start progress on the site at the back of Court Lane for some months now, worrying noticed, for example, at reference 1.

But I am pleased to be able to report that there is now some life, even if the flats involved are some way off being completed. The other day we had a respectable crane, quite a good size for the edge of the Chase Estate, and several diggers parked up around the site. The diggers might have been parked up, but the crane must have been active: day rate far too strong for even a careless builder to leave one lying around.

The bad news is that the flats, which look to be a bit more swanky looking than is usual around here (bottom left if you click to enlarge), come in at more than £400,000 for a one bedroom flat. Well over double what we paid for our three bedroom house 25 years ago.

Not having thought to make a note of the name of the developer, I try Cairds. No joy on their web site. Then I try google, which does not get me to the developer, but does get me to an application for parking restrictions, which leads me to Zestan, headquartered in our very own Longmead Industrial Estate, probably less than a hundred yards from the dump. They do appear to be the right people, as their web site sports some pictures of even larger cranes on what looks like this very site, but otherwise oddly badly designed and uninformative. Lots of tiresome glitter and gloss, but not much else. Perhaps I shall call in at their HQ on my of my morning strolls that way.

PS: google also turned up what looks like some ancient planning history. So perhaps there are problems in that department.

Reference 1: http://psmv3.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/progress.html.

Reference 2: https://www.zestanltd.co.uk/.