The Friends of Abingdon Civic Society has started a petition to the Vale of White Horse District Council and Contemporary Hotels (who have a seventy year lease) to break the impasse over the Upper Reaches Hotel site. You can read it and, if you agree, sign it at https://chng.it/7dY88CbZwn
The petition calls on the Vale of White Horse District Council and Contemporary Hotels Ltd to resolve the current impasse and bring the site back into use.
There is more information at https://abingdoncivicsociety.org.uk/conservation/upper-reaches-hotel/.
Waste of time and the energy required at data centres to store the petition
At least people are interested in Abingdon. Unless there is interest from the residents of Abingdon nothing is done.
There are a multitude of examples where residents are interested – yet nothing happens. Especially in this case where a private corporate entity is involved.
I know, Colin, we’ll all do nothing then, that will resolve the problem.
I signed; Abingdon’s shame.
Can they be served with a dilapidations order, or some such.
That is one of the things we are pressing for s.215 of the Town &. Country Planning Act looks just the job…
When sitting in the Nags Head garden there is a steady stream of teenagers going in there and leaving within 5 minutes to be replaced by another group. Drugs?
Surely they can build some nice apartments there, the demand for riverside property must be high?
We have new character-less hotels being built along the Marcham road in answer, presumably, to a need. Are there really no hotel chains willing to spend a little more to rescue and restore a historic building in a prime spot and open it again as a hotel and restaurant ?
We all hope it will be rescued but must fight against it being demolished and rebuilt as an ugly modern building.
While we all agree that something needs to be done about the site, this once again appears to be pointing the finger of blame at Vale Council. The council has explained that the situation is difficult due to legal issues, mainly as a result of the lease that the previous Conservative administration drew up. The finger of blame must be pointed at Contemporary Hotels Ltd who allowed the hotel to go to rack and ruin and simply do not care about Abingdon.
The petition is deliberately addressed to both. You are probably right that the real problem lies with CH, and that, because of the wording of the lease – which was drawn up before they existed – there is little that the Vale can do in their capacity as freeholder. However there are routes open to them as the Planning authority, by which they can put pressure on CH. We are urging them to make use of those.
The frustration is the Contemporary Hotel is a private limited company. If it were a public company, it would almost be worth buying a share (just one) and turning up regularly to the AGM to ask the question until they got fed up or embarrassed. As it is, the Council must simply never deal with these people again and explain widely why this company is not to be trusted.