THE final steps to close the deal to buy land at Manydown, enabling development to start, will be considered by borough councillors.

The freehold purchase needs to be completed before construction work can start on the land in the north of Manydown, originally bought under a long lease, with an option to purchase the freehold, by the borough council and Hampshire County Council in 1996.

At a special meeting on Monday, November 13, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council's cabinet will consider a report setting out the structure of a proposed agreement to move forward with purchasing the land from the Manydown Company.

READ MORE: More land needs to be bought before houses can be built at Manydown

The borough council’s cabinet member for major projects and regeneration, Cllr Onnalee Cubitt, said: “Getting the Manydown deal done has been a key priority for us as a cabinet since we took control in May. We are really pleased to have made such positive progress over the last five months, as we've focused on these negotiations. Manydown is a significant opportunity to bring much-needed homes through a well-planned approach, delivering infrastructure and facilities that meet our communities’ needs.

"We are on the home straight to finally closing this complex deal, after extensive and long-running negotiations. Decades after the lease on the land was bought, this will mean planning for construction can start in earnest.”

Hampshire County Council’s cabinet has already agreed to delegate authority to its senior officers to take forward the proposals relating to land purchase in the north Manydown area.

Leader of the county council Cllr Rob Humby added: “The borough council’s proposal to move forward with the purchase of the land at Manydown North reflects the decision made by the county council’s cabinet in October and is a welcome next step towards development in the Manydown area. There is still further work needed before any purchase can be finalised, including the completion of legal and financial due diligence activity. However, we are committed to working with the borough council to take forward negotiations to that end.”

Once the terms of the purchase, which are commercially sensitive, have been agreed by both councils the legal and financial documents can be drawn up to complete the deal.

The councils are in a partnership with master developer Urban&Civic, part of the global charitable foundation the Wellcome Trust, to develop new communities at Manydown.

The site has outline planning permission for a new community of 3,520 new homes, a 250-acre countryside park, two primary schools with land reserved for a potential secondary school, two local centres, businesses, shops and community facilities.

SEE ALSO: Manydown: Building yet to start nearly 20 years on

Following outline planning permission being granted, the partnership has been progressing the work needed to submit further planning applications to set out more detail on the development as a whole and the initial phase, in terms of design and site access arrangements. 

Preliminary survey work started on the Manydown site in March 2021 as part of a series of early investigations to better understand the site, including the precise location of utility supplies, archaeological trenching, drainage tests and further detailed ground investigations.

In April 2023, planning permission was approved by the borough council’s development control committee for the temporary construction access junctions as a first step in supporting the permissions and access needed to start work on site.