TheThe estateestate we’rewe’re inin

Issue 5 Autumn 2003

A publication by Welsh Health Estates for health estate personnel in UpdateUpdate ThisThis IssueIssue

■ From the Director... 2

■ The NHS Estate in Wales Condition 6 and Performance Report 2002-2003

■ DDA October 2004 deadline 6

■ Design excellence in the health estate 8

■ Building project review 10

■ Hospital Patient Environment programme gets underway 14

■ Welsh support for the MGA 16

■ Proposed changes in statutory fire safety legislation 17 Disposal of Hensol

■ Environmental Award 18 ELSH HEALTH ESTATES brings the

■ The Land Registration Act disposal of Hensol Hospital a step 2002 18 Wcloser ■ Website News 18 To the immense satisfaction, if not to This milestone brings an extremely say relief, of those involved, contracts complex disposal process, which ■ Library News 19 for the sale of Hensol Hospital were commenced in 1996, a step closer to ■ Staff News 19 exchanged on the 23rd September 2003 a conclusion, with the completion of at an agreed sale price in excess of £5 the sale scheduled for the 26th March ■ Capital Project Quarterly Reports 19 million. 2004. ■ Cost Allowances 19 The hospital is being purchased by WHE, under the direction of Gareth Gerald Leeke whose company owns the Roberts and Clive Ball, managed the ■ The Building Better Health Awards Leekes out-of-town department stores disposal process on behalf of the Welsh 2003 20 and the Vale Hotel, Golf and Spa Resort Assembly Government in partnership (which adjoins the Hensol hospital site) with Bro Morgannwg NHS Trust (the which is used by both the Welsh football main occupiers of the site). It was and rugby teams and FA Cup finalists. Continued on page 3 ● Hensol Castle front elevation. Continued from page 1… Although the site is primarily used for hospital purposes, extremely pleasing to experience the close co-operation of many will know that the castle buildings provide conference all parties involved in the disposal team working towards a centre facilities for both NHS and non-NHS bodies. common goal. PLANNING STATUS AND Bob Croydon of King Sturge Property Consultants, responsible POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVE USES for marketing the site, said: The disposal of the site was made more difficult by the “The co-operation of a number of organisations namely restrictive planning regime surrounding the site. Whilst the the National Assembly for Wales, Welsh Health Estates, use of the site as a hospital predated planning control, the Bro Morgannwg NHS Trust and the former Bro Taf primary use of the site fell within class C2 of the Town and Health Authority together with their professional advisers Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 and as such some has brought about a successful conclusion to a complex alternative uses could be implemented without requiring an sale.” express grant of planning permission. These included: BACKGROUND ■ Hospital or nursing home; Hensol Hospital is located in a pleasant rural setting in the ■ Residential school, college or training centre; Vale of , close to Junction 34 of the M4 motorway ■ and some 12 miles to the west of Cardiff city centre. The Provision of residential accommodation and care to site extends to some 63.06 hectares (155.8 acres) and comprises approximately 23,600 sq m (253,936 sq ft) of accommodation. The centrepiece of the Hensol site is the Grade I listed Castle, originally built in the 17th century as a stately home, together with its grounds and gardens (which are included [Grade II] in the Register of Landscapes, Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales). In addition, the sole access to the site is over a Grade II listed bridge. The attractive landscaped grounds incorporate not only extensive hospital buildings of varying ages and styles but also a 15 acre man-made lake, mill pond, playing fields and agricultural land. ● Hensol Castle side elevation.

WHE intranet website: howis.wales.nhs.uk/whe 3 ● Hensol Castle site. people in need of care. ➤ specific planning consent. Rather it was decided to market Although a plethora of planning policy guidance existed, little the Hensol site, on the basis of its current and potential use, of this gave clear guidance in relation to the development as a ‘development opportunity’. potential of the Hensol site. The most recent, and deemed MARKETING to be relevant, planning guidance was the Inspector’s report After careful consideration of the Hensol site, the planning on the deposit Unitary Development Plan. The gist of the situation, the state of the property market, the area of likely Inspector’s conclusions in relation to the Hensol site were: purchaser interest and the disposal timescale, it was decided ■ The Hospital is in an open countryside setting. to market the site as one lot on an ‘expressions of interest’ ■ Any reuse of the site would have to show great respect basis. for the character of the listed buildings. By selecting this basis of sale it enabled submissions to be ■ Because the site is not within a settlement, and because considered and investigated and companies interviewed in the local transport service is relatively sparse, residential order to obtain additional information, before a shortlist was development of the site could not be regarded as drawn up. sustainable and would be inappropriate. In reality 10 submissions were received with 4 companies This view was confirmed by the Local Planning Authority being interviewed. which strongly indicated that it did not consider residential Seven companies were then invited to submit ‘best and final development of the Hensol site (by way of new build units offers’. Offers were received from all seven companies. or conversion of existing buildings) as appropriate and made CONSIDERATION OF OFFERS it clear that it would oppose any such application. Due to the uncertain planning and development potential Given these planning constraints, and the consequent of the Hensol site it was decided to encourage offers on difficulty in pre-determining what potential uses developers an unconditional basis with an overage condition, should might have for the site, it was decided not to apply for a additional development be achieved. This was highlighted Statutory designations Non-Statutory Designations The site contains two buildings that have been statutorily The land surrounding Hensol Castle was landscaped between listed as being of special architectural or historic interest: 1774 and 1810 and this work included the excavation of ■ Hensol Castle was listed in 1993 as Grade I. This the main lake and possibly the mill pond. The grounds are designation denotes a building of exceptional interest; included (Grade II) in the Register of Landscapes, Parks and only about 2% of all listed buildings are so graded (eg Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, prepared by Windsor Castle). The entry in the list states “Listed Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments, the Countryside Council Grade I as a major Welsh Country House which retains for Wales and ICOMOS. C18th fabric of national importance in the development *Although the Register was a non-statutory document, the of the Gothic style whilst also representing a fine Welsh Assembly Government’s guidance indicated that: “… example of early Victorian remodelling”. The effect of proposed development on a park or garden ■ The Bridge was listed in 1992 as Grade II, which denotes contained in the Register of Landscapes, Parks and Gardens a building of special interest. The entry in the list states of Special Historic Interest in Wales, or on the setting of such “Broad and ramped 4-arch bridge…included for group a park or garden, may be a material consideration in the value with Hafod Lodge and Hensol Castle”. determination of a planning application.”

4 WHE intranet website: howis.wales.nhs.uk/whe The History of Hensol From 1614 until 1721 Hensol was owned by the Jenkins family, and the core of the house, the centre of the south front, dates to the late 17th or early 18th century. In 1721 the estate passed to Charles Talbot, who served in Walpole’s government and in 1733 became , taking the title of of Hensol. The first major rebuilding was undertaken by Charles (died 1737) and his son William. William Talbot, who also became a prominent political figure, completely remodelled the house in gothic style in about 1735, pushing the north end of the south block out east to west, including the two towers, one of which has the date of 1735 on it. Hensol is a very early example of the adoption of the gothic style for domestic buildings in Wales. On Williams’s death in 1782 the estate passed through several hands and in about 1790 to Samuel Richardson, who made further additions and alterations in gothic style, including the turrets, battlements, storeyed porch and porte-cochère, extensions to the east and west of the south front, and the north side of the main courtyard. In 1815 the estate was bought by Benjamin Hall, and then in 1826 by William Crawshay (who went on to build Cyfartha Castle in ) but neither made any alterations. The final phase of the building, which gave Hensol its present day appearance, took place after the industrialist Rowland Fothergill bought the estate in 1838. He employed the architects T H Wyatt & D Brandon in the 1840s to extend the east wing northwards and create the service court. Further changes were made to the main block. In 1927 the house and grounds were sold to Glamorgan County Council to be used as a hospital, which it remains today. in the marketing documentation and during the interview process. TIMETABLE OF EVENTS The reasoning behind this was in order to avoid having to Once the closure date for the Hensol Hospital site consider a high offer, conditional on achieving planning had been identified by Bro Morgannwg NHS Trust, consent for residential development, with little chance of the entire disposal programme was managed in success. order to ensure that completion of the sale coincided The selected company submitted the highest unconditional with the closure date, thus avoiding the need to offer, which was in excess of £5 million, together with the secure and maintain an empty site. potential to achieve over £7 million more through overage The main events were: (dependant on obtaining planning for timeshare, private Establishment of Disposal Team Dec 1996 healthcare and residential development). Preparation for Sale Dec 1996-Dec 2001 WHE ROLE Marketing Dec 2001-July 2002 Although WHE had played a leading role in this disposal Selection of Preferred Purchaser July 2002-Dec 2002 since 1996, in April 2002 (upon the abolition of the Health Negotiation of Heads of Terms Dec 2002-Feb 2003 Authorities), WHE took on the responsibility for managing the disposal of the residual NHS estate in Wales, of which Contract Negotiations Feb 2003-Sept 2003 Hensol is part. This role involved managing the process of Exchange of Contracts 23 September 2003 sale in conjunction with Bro Morgannwg NHS Trust. Completion programmed for 26 March 2004 Due to the complexity of the site, contract negotiations were inevitably long and complicated, and at times highly technical, sometimes creating apparent impasses. However, through perseverance and goodwill on both sides, contracts were successfully exchanged on the 23rd September 2003. DISPOSAL TEAM VACANT POSSESSION ● Welsh Health Estates – responsible for managing The site was marketed on the basis of being offered with the sale. vacant possession on completion. ● Bro Morgannwg NHS Trust – the occupying Trust However, due to the difficulties of identifying a suitable site which provided healthcare services from the and obtaining the necessary planning consent to construct site and to which the majority of the land and new premises in which to relocate some of the healthcare buildings on the site were leased. services, it was necessary to negotiate with the prospective ● Bro Taf Health Authority – responsible for the purchaser in order for the Trust to remain in one of the Hensol site on behalf of the National Assembly for buildings on site under a lease (for a maximum period of Wales until April 2002. two years). ● The National Assembly for Wales – through a WHE together with the Trust and the Assembly’s Estates representative of its Estates Division. Department has been working for the past 3 years to ensure ● Morgan Cole – legal advisers. that the 15 or so occupiers (both public and private sector ● organisations) vacate the Hensol site by the end of 2003 in Wyn Thomas Gordon Lewis – planning advisers. order to give the Trust sufficient time to decommission the ● King Sturge – property consultants. site ahead of the 26th March 2004 completion date. ■ For more information contact: Gareth Roberts on 029 2031 5527 or e-mail [email protected]

WHE intranet website: howis.wales.nhs.uk/whe 5