Homes set to replace old Army buildings

PREPARATIONS are under way to sweep aside old Army buildings to make way for modern housing as part of Project Wellesley.

The urban extension of Aldershot was approved by Rushmoor Borough Council a year ago with up to 3,850 homes being built on MoD land between the town centre and North Camp, plus community facilities, two new primary schools and green spaces.

The latest documents submitted by project manager Grainger this month describe many of the 34 buildings to be demolished as of ‘no architectural merit’.

The Gun Hill zone officers’ mess buildings, including the Stanhope House family welfare centre, are described as ‘typical examples of the later phase of redevelopment carried out at the Aldershot garrison during the 1960s, using the G80 concrete building system’.

“The buildings are architecturally undistinguished, are of little historic importance and make no contribution to the setting of the Aldershot Military Town Conservation Area,” it reads.

The Coruna zone, which was the first phase of development in the 1960s – replacing the Victorian garrison, is summarised as of minimalist, concrete design.

The layout was influenced by the design of new towns and universities.

A brick store building in Normandy Barracks, formerly used as a radio store, is described as ‘purely functional’ and ‘architecturally undistinguished’ and, like many of the buildings surveyed, is rated zero out of 10 in terms of its value.

The only hurdle to overcome for the latter zone is the presence of bats found in nine buildings there.

Although it is said that some of the buildings could theoretically be upgraded, retention is not thought to be justifiable.

All the Gun Hill buildings will be cleared to allow house-building work to begin. Only the storage building in the Coruna zone will be cleared at this stage to allow a new surface water sewer to be installed.

This will serve the Maida development zone, the first phase of Project Wellesley, comprising 228 homes, for which planning permission has already been approved, with work set to begin shortly.

Comments can be made on the plans until August 1 on the council’s website using application number 14/00530/FULPP on publicaccess.rushmoor.gov.uk/ online-applications.