Building work on retirement village at St Edmunds site to take longer than expected

Construction work on the St Edmunds site was delayed in January, having begun in 2018.

But the financing of the project means that the wait to see it completed could be longer than expected.

The site has stood derelict for 17 years, but in 2017 a planning application from Kayalef Holdings Limited was approved, permitting the building of a 130 apartment retirement village and 62-bed specialist care home.

St Edmund’s Hospital is a former Victorian workhouse, built in 1836, and parts of the building are Grade II listed.

Construction work had started in 2018 through Northamptonshire based builders Holland Build, the first phase of which was completed at the start of this year. But the coronavirus pandemic has had an impact on the timescale of delivering the project.

Labour leader Councillor Danielle Stone asked for an update on the scheme at Monday’s meeting (July 20) of Northampton Borough Council, which was held virtually due to the ongoing pandemic.

Responding to her written question Councillor Tim Hadland, cabinet member for regeneration and enterprise, said: “The first phase, involving securing, re-roofing and other improvements to the fabric of the main building, finished in January.

“COVID-19 has delayed the next stages of the work, but further work is expected to start shortly. The owners have said that the programme is likely to be protracted in view of the fact that it is not possible to obtain external funding for this type of project.”

But Councillor Stone said more detail was needed after 17 ‘wasted’ years. She said: “We badly need this project to come to fruition. You have said that COVID has interrupted it, but it was interrupted before COVID happened, and what we really need is a timeline and a finishing date. Have you got any idea when this project is going to be finished?

Councillor Hadland responded: “It’s privately owned, it’s privately run and it’s privately financed. We don’t control the timing of the project. We are as anxious as anybody to have more facilities like this in the town, but we don’t control the timing. It’s gone a little way in that the listed building is now much better preserved than it was, and also slightly better looking. But the programme itself is in the hands of the owners.”

Asked by Councillor Stone if there was anything the council could do to help the project along, he added: “Short of providing money, probably not. And we don’t have coffers for such a thing.”