Your voice matters on the former Sandye Place Academy site in Sandy
Wednesday, 16 April 2025
Consultation opens on the former Sandye Place Academy site in Sandy.
We are asking for your thoughts, suggestions, and views on proposals for the reprovision of Allison House Residential Home in Sandy to the former Sandye Place Academy site, as well as gather ideas on what it should do with the rest of the land.
We will be looking for views and feedback on the following:
- improving care home provision by investing £19m in Sandy by building a new care home on the former Sandye Place Academy site. This would have the potential to replace the capacity at Allison House Care home, which is owned and run by the Council, providing a modern care facility that would future-proof supply of care home places in the area. The new care home could also include other community facilities that the public have previously suggested the site could be used for, such as a community space and café facilities open to the public
- suggestions for the rest of the former Sandye Place Academy site - this could be transferring the asset to the community or leasing it to a group for an agreed amount, reviewing community suggestions for the land, giving the community the right to bid for the site, as well as opening up the opportunity to sell the land to any of the mentioned groups, or others interested in buying it. Any of these options would need to mitigate ongoing financial pressures on the Council
We are currently spending £100,000 annually on security and maintenance of the former Sandye Palace Academy site, with an additional spend to prevent deterioration of the listed buildings.
The site is highly valued locally and has been used for a number of events both during the time it operated as a school and more recently to host the Sandy Carnival, Coronation celebrations and other ad-hoc events. Sandy youth club also operates from a dedicated building on the site.
Councillor Steve Watkins, Executive Member for Assets at Central Bedfordshire Council, said:
We are now consulting with the community, and others, to decide what will happen next to the former Sandye Place Academy site. This is everyone’s opportunity to have their say on what they want to see on the former Sandye Place Academy site, which is feasible, financially viable and benefits the local community. The site has been listed as an ‘Asset of Community Value’, so potentially the community can have the opportunity to bid to purchase it. Together, we can use this time to come up with the best plan for the currently inactive site that will benefit and add value locally. I encourage everyone from Allison House, the town council, to every resident in Sandy and the surrounding area to let us know what you want to happen next to the former Sandy Place Academy site.
The consultation will open today, 16 April, and closes on 8 July. There will also be drop-in sessions both in person and online scheduled throughout the consultation period, including a stall at the Sandy Carnival.