EXCLUSIVE: Businessman vows to continue fight after losing multi-million pound town centre site
Gurpreet Samrai • Published 3 Aug 2012 15:30
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A BUSINESSMAN locked in a three-year battle with a banking giant over land in the heart of the town centre is vowing to continue his fight for justice after a failed High Court bid.
Plans for the £45m redevelopment of shops in Slough High Street and buildings in Church Street, Slough, were put on hold in 2009 after Lloyds TSB Bank PLC pulled out of providing further funding to Sanjiv Kaushal, owner of Crowborough Properties Ltd, months after demolition work began on the site.
Following the move, both parties have been fighting in and out of the courts for ownership of the land, which was set to be transformed into state-of-the-art offices, retail units, a hotel and car park. Mr Kaushal walked out of a High Court trial on Thursday, July 12, triumphant the ordeal was over after the judge ruled a proportion of the properties, including land in Church Street, will be returned to him.
However, days later the 58-year-old and his two advisers were dragged back into court after the bank made an application to amend pleadings and the court reversed the judgement ruling in favour of Lloyds TSB, giving it ownership of the land and two previously completed phases of the redevelopment project. Mr Kaushal said: "After the trial I felt justice had been done and we could get these properties back on track and complete the regeneration of the town buildings, but now I feel there is no justice in the world.
"We are not going to stop here. We are going to go until the end. I want to get that land back so I can complete the dream proposed 10 years go.
"By now we could have been closer to having a major retailer in the High Street and a hotel that was meant to be ready for the Olympics and car parking."
The multi-million pound development was phase three of a large project including Brisbane Court, completed in 2006, and The Village Shopping Centre project, completed in 2007 - both funded by the bank.
A Lloyds Banking Group spokesman said: "In 2010 we took a decision not to provide additional funding to Crowborough Properties. This was a decision we were fully entitled to make as, despite the customer's claims to the contrary, we had never committed to lend further funds.
"We have now won the case that the customer brought against us and we are looking at all options for the future of the site. We will be working alongside all parties including the local authority and the LPA Receivers to agree the best way forward."
Mr Kaushal and his advisers are looking into lodging an appeal.
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