Agenda and minutes

To confirm the appointment of Councillor Julia Potts as the Chairman of the Executive for the Council Year 2016/17.

RESOLVED  that Councillor Julia Potts be appointed as Chairman of the Executive for the council year 2016-17.

To confirm the appointment of Councillor Tom Martin as Vice-Chairman of the Executive for the Council Year 2016/17.

RESOLVED  that Councillor Tom Martin be appointed as Vice-Chairman of the Executive for the council year 2016-17.

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Brian Adams.

To receive from members, declarations of interest in relation to any items included on the agenda for this meeting, in accordance with the Waverley Code of Local Government Conduct.

Cllr Julia Potts declared a non-pecuniary interest in the report as a member of Farnham Town Council.

Background Papers

Unless specified under an individual item, there are no background papers (as defined by Section 100D(5) of the Local Government Act 1972) relating to the reports in Part I of these minutes.

The purpose of this report is to update Members on the significant progress the Council has made on the Brightwells Farnham Regeneration Scheme, including information on the current financial and planning arrangements and the delivery position relating to this key corporate priority.

The Executive is requested to consider the proposed financial and funding arrangements and the consequential variations to the Development Agreement, have regard to legal and financial advice and make recommendations to Council about how to proceed with this scheme.

Recommendation

That the Executive recommends to Council that it agrees to:

1.         receive the Best Consideration report from GVA and note that the financial proposals represent best consideration;

2.         receive  the legal advice from Leading Counsel and the Borough Solicitor regarding the potential for legal challenge and acknowledge the importance of this advice in relation to the decision about proceeding with the amendments to the Development Agreement;

3.         in relation to recommendation 2 above, approve recommendation 1 included in the (Exempt) annexe and delegate authority to the Executive Director and Borough Solicitor in consultation with the Leader of the Council and  Portfolio Holder for Finance to negotiate with the developer appropriate measures to provide mitigation against the costs of robustly defending any legal challenge on an equal share basis;

4.         approve as Landowner, the change of Affordable Housing accommodation mix within the Scheme to 72 Shared Ownership units;

5.         note Officers’ analysis of the financial appraisal and the evaluation of risks included and acknowledge that the financial appraisal is predicated on the approval of the changes to Development Agreement and the Section 106 Agreement as set out in the report; 

6.         delegate authority, in line with Counsel’s advice at paragraphs 36 and 37, to the Executive Director and Borough Solicitor to execute the Compulsory Purchase Order in respect of the Marlborough Head Pub in Farnham, the remaining CPO Order Lands set out within the CPO, and all other rights of access and oversailing set out within the CPO;

7.         approve the changes to the Development Agreement necessary to enable the Scheme to proceed as summarised in paragraph 72 of this report and detailed in the paragraph 9 of the (Exempt) annexe;

8.         subject to resolution of the issues set out in the (Exempt) Annexe to this report, delegate authority to the Executive Director, Director of Finance and Borough Solicitor in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Portfolio Holder for Finance to agree the detailed legal terms necessary to achieve an unconditional Development Agreement.

9.         agree the commercially sensitive recommendation 2 regarding Stamp Duty Land Tax set out in the (Exempt) Annexe to this report

The Executive considered a report updating Members on the significant progress the Council has made on the Brightwells Farnham Regeneration Scheme, including information on the current financial and planning arrangements and the delivery position relating to this key corporate priority. The report had been circulated to all members of the Council in advance of the special meetings.

Members asked questions and sought clarification about a number of issues, which included:

i.          benefits of the long term revenue stream for the Council and the boost to the local economy;

ii.         the appropriateness of the scheme going forward;

iii.        the opportunity for the scheme to join parts of the town together;

iv.        future sales growth of the restaurant economy;

v.         the use of communications to inform and engage as many local residents as possible who were keen to see the scheme get underway, along with the establishment of a Stakeholder Group;

vi.        the ability of the scheme to be disability friendly; and

vii.       the welcome mix of housing, including shared ownership.

At 6.14 pm it was

RESOLVED  that, pursuant to Procedure Rule 20, and in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the item on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during this item, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information (as defined by Section 100I of the Act) of the description specified at the meeting in the revised Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, namely:-

                                    Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) (paragraph 3); and

                                    Information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings (paragraph 5).

Members asked a number of detailed questions about the legal and financial advice provided in the (Exempt) Annexe to the report and received clarification from officers on a number of issues.  At 7.09 pm the meeting resumed in open session.

In summary, the Executive agreed that the benefits of the scheme far outweighed any uncertainties and recognised the various opportunities that would be forthcoming for the town, including an end to the neglect suffered to the area of the town in recent years, the provision of health and wellbeing benefits for residents, affordable housing for those most in need, employment both short and long term and the ability to attract residents from outside of the area to the town for what it would have to offer.

Having considered the proposed financial and funding arrangements and the consequential variations to the Development Agreement, had regard to legal and financial advice, the Executive now makes the following recommendations to Council about how to proceed with this scheme, and

RECOMMENDS that

1.            the Best Consideration report from GVA be received and be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

There were no matters for consideration under this heading.