Lewes Community Partnership/Harveys Depot bid

Anyone aware of the Transition Town Lewes initiative will know that the future is relocalisation – food, energy, transport, community. The Harveys Depot bid by the hastily-formed Lewes Community Partnership is very much a part of this ‘Vision For Lewes’ – we use that strapline on our presentation material. We want to rename the site ‘Harveys Yard’, retaining the existing buildings and adding some appropriate new build to make it an exciting, vital, commercial and community centre.

Harveys Depot is very juicy piece of real estate in the centre of town right by Lewes station. A piece of land that local and national housing developers are slavering over. They want to to build their 25 flats, pocket their 2.5 million and move on. LCP wants it for Lewes. Our town has lost its market and manufacturing base in the last 50 years and urgently needs to reacquire it if it is to survive the coming 50 years. LCP’s proposal can help Lewes do that.

Harveys directors Hamish Elder and Miles Jenner are very sympathetic to our proposal. They have accepted our low bid of 1.6m, conditional on us guaranteeing the finance. They want us to do it. They want us to pull it off. But they need the money from the sale to balance their books because they have just bought a bigger depot in Daveys Lane.

So we have to find the money. We have until May 4th. We are working very hard at this and we’re confident. Triodos Bank is backing 80% of the bid price based on a sound business plan. Unity bank is backing local food co-operative Just Trade to the tune of 100K. We have pledges on our site of over 100K. We have five or six businesses keen to relocate to Harveys Yard.

You can donate or pledge money, or contact us for information. We can tell you about our company structure, planned share issues and anything else you need to know. Harveys Yard is the first brick in the ‘yellow brick road’ to Lewes as a relocalised, sustainable community.

Contact

Lewes Community Partnership

1 Castle Banks, Lewes, BN7 1UZ

tel 01273 488457/479018

click here to go to our website

Get involved: contact one of the Group contacts on the Groups page