A Caring Future?

1:12pm Saturday 2nd December 2006

PLANS that could see Loughton Hall turned into a care home have been submitted to Epping Forest District Council.

The hall was set to be purchased from owner Epping Forest College by a private owner earlier this year and brought back into community use. One idea was that it could be used by voluntary organisations and also as a venue for wedding receptions.

However the Grade II listed building is still owned by the college although its head of partnership services Quentin Buller admitted that a number of prospective owners had expressed an interest in buying it.

One of those interested parties is applicant Baldev Sohal, who has been unavailable for comment but is believed to have a history of working within the care home sector. He has applied to the council to demolish garages on the Rectory Lane site and is seeking permission to turn the building into a care home.

Mr Buller said the application could fit in with covenants on the building which stipulate its use must be in connection with education and health.

Mr Buller said: "Obviously anyone wanting to buy the hall will want to see if they can get planning permission from the council beforehand. But how any proposal is positioned to fulfil these stipulations would be the responsibility of the proposer and the interpretation and acceptance would be in the hands of the relevant authorities."

He added: "Whoever does buy the building will know that it will be expensive to maintain."