Agenda item

Cabinet Agreed

1. That the site at St Margaret’s Way is no longer required for its current purpose.

2. To delegate authority to the Strategic Director (Place) to apply for consent pursuant to section 19 Housing Act 1985 to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (or equivalent successor title) to appropriate the flats (above a garage block) and amenity land held within the Housing Revenue Account at St Margaret’s Way as shown edged red and green on the Plan (‘HRA Land’).

3. To delegate authority to the Strategic Director (Place) to carry out a consultation in relation to the intended appropriation and the disposal of the public open space within the HRA Land at St Margaret’s Way; if objections are received as part of the

consultation process, the consideration of those objections will be referred back to Cabinet.

4. To delegate authority to the Strategic Director (Place) to take all necessary steps to appropriate the HRA Land from the Housing Revenue Account to planning purposes and the garages held within the General Fund within the Site for planning purposes pursuant to Section 122 of the Local Government Act 1972

and Section 227 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 for planning purposes subject to the completion of the processes authorised by Recommendations 2 and 3..

5. To delegate authority to the Strategic Director (Place) to appropriate the Site at St Margaret’s Way from planning purposes to the Housing Revenue Account prior to construction of the new build council houses as set out in Part II of the report.

Cabinet Agreed

1. That the site at St Margaret’s Way is no longer required for its current purpose.

2. To delegate authority to the Strategic Director (Place) to apply for consent pursuant to section 19 Housing Act 1985 to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (or equivalent successor title) to appropriate the flats (above a garage block) and amenity land held within the Housing Revenue Account at St Margaret’s Way as shown edged red and green on the Plan (‘HRA Land’).

3. To delegate authority to the Strategic Director (Place) to carry out a consultation in relation to the intended appropriation and the disposal of the public open space within the HRA Land at St Margaret’s Way; if objections are received as part of the

consultation process, the consideration of those objections will be referred back to Cabinet.

4. To delegate authority to the Strategic Director (Place) to take all necessary steps to appropriate the HRA Land from the Housing Revenue Account to planning purposes and the garages held within the General Fund within the Site for planning purposes pursuant to Section 122 of the Local Government Act 1972

and Section 227 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 for planning purposes subject to the completion of the processes authorised by Recommendations 2 and 3..

5. To delegate authority to the Strategic Director (Place) to appropriate the Site at St Margaret’s Way from planning purposes to the Housing Revenue Account prior to construction of the new build council houses as set out in Part II of the report.

Corporate Objectives

A clean, safe and enjoyable environment

Building strong and vibrant communities

Ensuring economic growth and prosperity

Providing good quality affordable homes, in particular for those most in need.

Ensuring efficient, effective and modern service delivery.

Climate and ecological emergency

Statutory Officer Comments:

Deputy Monitoring Officer:

The appropriation powers have been set out in the body of the report.  The use of appropriation power needs to be justified by a clear ‘public interest’ case that overrides the individual rights of potential affected third party owners and occupiers of nearby properties.

Prior to appropriating the flats above the garage site that are currently held in the HRA, Secretary of State Consent will be required under section 19 of the Housing Act 1985.

Where land consisting or forming part of an open space is proposed to be appropriated, the Council cannot do so unless it has advertised its intention to do so for two consecutive weeks in a local newspaper and specifically considered any objections received under section 122(2A) of the Local Government Act 1972.

The definition of open space is “any land laid out as a public garden, or used for the purposes of public recreation, or land which is a disused burial ground”.  The amenity land at St Margaret’s Way shown edged in green on the Plan comes within this definition and therefore the open space rules apply.

Deputy S151 Officer:

The appropriation of General Fund property and land to the HRA requires a technical to reduce the Capital Financing Requirement (CFR) of the General Fund and adjustment increase the CFR of the HRA by the market value of the transfer.  The CFR is an indication of the Council’s underlying need to borrow as a result of capital investment.

Advice

The meeting moved into part 2, please see the part 2 minutes.