Land sale will benefit future generations

The trust is a registered charity which gives over £1m most years to the churches, schools and deserving projects in the town of Warwick. This last year, these include a hub in the Central England Rehabilitation Unit, a kitchen for the Myton Hospice, the community centre at Chase Meadows, a science centre at Aylesford School and an IT centre at Myton School.

The charity has 12 trustees, four nominated by outside bodies including the town council and eight others based on skills and experience but most importantly an attachment to Warwick and its people. The trustees do not receive any payment for their work. There is a clerk and a deputy, who are paid to administer the charity.

The land at Europa Way is owned by a consortium of two Warwick charities (Henry VIII and the Oken Trust) and a local family. The consortium was formed with the aim of selling the land, as and when planning permission was obtained. We are in the process of submitting an outline planning application (OPA). We have not used any building developer in this process. If we do obtain planning permission, then we would expect to sell the land to builders for housing. We have a duty under charity law to obtain best value. Any money we raise will be invested, increasing the £1m plus already distributed.

We are one of several sites in the emerging Local Plan. Our site would include 800 houses, seven per cent of the proposed total. For any development to be both acceptable and successful, we recognise that it needs to be high quality and sensitively planned. Our OPA integrates the proposed development with its surroundings so that it will be a natural extension to Myton, offering opportunities to both new and existing residents. We envisage a new primary school, a neighbourhood centre and good, ecologically friendly open spaces.

No trustees gain financially from their position, there are no relationships with any developers, no meetings have been attended and no trustee will have any personal gain from any future sale. There are absolutely no conflicts of interest and we would confirm that the town council nominated trustee is always absent from Europa Way discussions.

On a final point, most of Henry VIII’s existing assets came from land sale for the Shires Retail Park and houses off Saumur Way. We think that this has been of great benefit to Warwick. Selling the land at Europa Way will increase the money given to Warwick and will be for the benefit of our future generations.

John Edwards, King Henry Trustee and Chairman of the Europa Way Consortium, High Street Warwick