[kanga]

..I flew in and out as a helio passenger countless times......

ah, Helio; ideal type for that airfield ..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helio_Courier

[Sooty25]

..I flew in and out as a helio passenger countless times......

ah, Helio; ideal type for that airfield ..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helio_Courier

yeah, it wuld, and I need to spill check before hitting seend!

I do keep meaning to go and walk the runway to see what the surface is like, just in case I need to do a precautionary landing there one day. My logbook needs North Denes in it!

[Bathman]

Did the place ever sell?

[anglianav8r]

Still on the market https://www.rightmove.co.uk/commercial- ... 99190.html

[Sooty25]

I drove past a couple of weeks ago, gate was still chained and the For sale board still up.

Still listed with agent. https://propertytoolkit.agencypilot.com/(S(l1v1o1u4ossm3p2rlwaudrlm))/PropertyDetails.aspx?siteid=228&pkey=228+164845

Interested?

[Flyingfemme]

Still too much money and the business rates are crippling.

[Sooty25]

Still too much money and the business rates are crippling.

Based on hangar space alone, it is almost equal in sq mtrs to Seething, and their business rates is just under a third of what North Denes is currently listed at. The problem is the ancillary buildings. You'd either need to either rent them off and get them individually listed or demolish some of them.

What would be a reasonable price? It's been on the market for a very long time, I dare say offers would be entertained. What's it worth? £750k?

[skydriller]

Its not what its worth, its the income you would need to produce to pay the business rates that is the issue from what I can see... "oilfield rates" when there is no oilfield anymore is the problem...

[Sooty25]

But if there was a genuine interest in buying it if the rateable value was sensible, the starting point would be to have it re-assessed based on proposed use not on its historical use. Other GA airfields set a precedent.

Offloading the old roadside terminal would be a priority.

[Sooty25]

A little more digging shows the rating category for north denes is still "commercial heliport" whereas Seething is rated just as an "airstrip". The commercial maintenance unit at seething is listed separately.

I don't think the current business rates valuation should be the primary stumbling block.

[Flyingfemme]

Getting rerated is a very long mission. Around a couple of years. Meanwhile you have to pay the rates. If local authorities had to take a view and discuss other options it might have a future but, as the system stands, the owner keeps paying and the rating authority has no incentive to change things. I don’t think it is in the local authority’s gift to alter the rated value; that is a central responsibility.

[CloudHound]

So would the nooklear option of wholesale demolition solve this?

[Flyingfemme]

"the demolition of buildings and other structures is defined by section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 as a building operation for which planning permission is required"

[Sooty25]

The building I am in at the moment was a complex of offices previously used as a private school. My business wanted 1/3, a friend wanted another 1/3 and the landlord was happy for us to do this as they couldn't re-rent the whole block. One dividing wall installed and locks on other doors was all that we needed to divide the block. Getting a VOA officer in took only a matter of weeks, and the block was split into 3 separate listings , along with individual rooms re-rated to suit the new usage. It wasn't hassle at all.

So, assuming the rateable value could be got down to that of a comparable local GA airfield, what do we think the site is actually worth?

[Bathman]

Anything happened?

3000 homes which claim to increase the biodiversity.