SOS has grave doubts, as expressed in this latest message (30 Jan 2013) to EDDC’s planning office:
Dear Mr Freeman,
Thanks for your reply.. You have not convinced me;
- The Davis Langdon report was prepared by a very competent firm; I know them well having worked with them. They would not have underestimated the costs of refurbishment. They could not take the risk.
- DL have already assumed that the costs of refurbing the old building will be higher than the new building.
- There is no evidence that Thom Lister carried out a more thorough survey and analysis than DL;
- I do not agree with you that the costs of refurbing the old and the new buildings are in proportion to their floor area. The old building is far more difficult to refurb and convert than to take the shell of the new building and update it. It was after all built in 1974.
You think that the costed figures presented in the OPA are not compatible and so do, I whatever they are (either the DL report or the TL report). Therefore they should be made so before the application is considered.
I think that the public are being led astray by inadequate and poorly presented data. Instead of approaching the issue in a planned sensible way, the applicant has prepared some estimates which bear little or no relation to the requirements. What is needed is ;
- A good estimate of the costs of refurbing the old building to either apartments or offices, (only the latter has been cursorily examined by TL
- A good estimate of the costs of refurbing the new offices to a modern standard, if indeed they are not already
- A good estimate of the costs of building a new additional office block if the size of 2 above is not sufficient.
- The costs of maintaining the building, (s), and the equivalent lower costs in the new building in Honiton
- The equivalent costs of the annual operating costs
We would all be reassured then that EDDC was not confusing all the figures, purposefully or otherwise. As it is we are all very suspicious of the “intentions” to move to Honiton, which appears to be the driving force.
Thanks for your time
regards
Richard THurlow
Chair SOS
Save Our Sidmouth 