Agenda item

(Report of the Director of Regeneration, Housing and Planning. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Housing and Regeneration). The report provides a summary of the Gateway Review recommendations and how these have been addressed and also proposes that a further report is provided to Cabinet in Autumn 2014 on an options appraisal.

Cabinet considered a report, introduced by the Cabinet Member for Housing and Regeneration, which provided a summary of the Gateway Review recommendations and how these had been addressed. The report also proposed that a further report was provided to Cabinet in Autumn 2014 on an options appraisal.

In response to a point made with regard the public interest in Hornsey Town and the need to communicate the changes planned to local residents, the Cabinet Member noted that the Council’s Communications Team was developing a communications plan and that this would set out how residents would be kept informed of progress in relation to the project.

In addition it was also agreed that a record of all consultation with residents and stakeholders should be kept and presented with the options appraisal considered by Cabinet in the Autumn.

RESOLVED:

1. That the Review the Gateway Review report and its recommendations, as set out in Section 4 and Appendix A of the report, be noted;  and
2. That agreement be given to a report being brought to Cabinet in Autumn 2014 presenting the options generated and results of the options appraisal and seeking agreement as to how to proceed with the options considered for the Hornsey Town Hall site.

Alternative options considered

Gateway Review

The Council initiated and organised a Gateway Review, run by Local Partnerships, which was held in December 2013.  A Local Partnerships Gateway Review is a peer review process applied to a project or programme at key decision points in its life cycle. It is designed to provide fully independent external quality assurance. The purpose of the Gateway Review for Hornsey Town Hall was as a mechanism to assess the progress of the project to deliver the outcomes expected both by the Council and Mountview and to enable the Council to make informed decisions about the level of risk it was prepared to take in proceeding to the next stage in the delivery of the project.

The timing of the Gateway Review coincided with conclusion of Mountview’s outline design stage and the release of their cost plan and fundraising report to indicate the costs and available funds for the project.  This indicated a significant funding gap for delivery of the project, much higher than previously reported. This gap was a result of both an increase in costs associated with delivering the Mountview scheme and a reduction in Mountview’s fundraising target.

The Gateway Review provided a delivery confidence assessment of Amber/Red.   This assessment is defined as ‘Successful delivery of the project/programme is in doubt with major risks or issues apparent in a number of key areas. Urgent action is needed to ensure these are addressed, and whether resolution is feasible.’

The Gateway Review also made eight prioritised recommendations. The full Gateway Review report is available at Appendix A.

Options Appraisal

To address the Gateway Review recommendations, the Council appointed GVA Ltd in February 2014 to undertake a detailed options appraisal of the Hornsey Town Hall project, including broader options for the Town Hall complex.

The options appraisal has generated a series of options for the Hornsey Town Hall site, which will be evaluated against a set of criteria based on the objectives of the project. A financial assessment of each option will also be completed.  

The scope of work prepared for GVA includes:

Ø  Undertaking an options appraisal considering the recommendations of the Gateway Review and including a review of the existing and potential options for the development of HTH

Ø  To appraise each of those options and to prepare a business case for the recommended option. 

Ø  Undertaking an open book appraisal of the Mountview scheme

Ø  A market appraisal to ascertain a potential land receipt that the Council might expect to receive for the site in consideration of recent changes in the property market

Ø  A soft market testing exercise to assess the demand for different options to be brought to the market.

The options appraisal undertaken by GVA Ltd, is being undertaken in conjunction with the Council, Mountview and the Hornsey Town Hall Creative Trust (HTHCT), and all parties are fully sighted on the options being considered and appraised and will be involved in consideration of the conclusion and recommendations.  A Working Group representing all parties meets at least once fortnightly to review progress and agree the next steps.

The options appraisal is due to conclude in Summer 2014 and a full report will be presented to Cabinet in the Autumn 2014 seeking guidance as to how to proceed.

Reasons for decision

The Local Partnerships Gateway Review held in December 2013 provided a delivery confidence assessment of Amber/Red and set out a series of recommendations to be addressed by the project.

One of the critical recommendations is that the Council commission a professional team to undertake an options appraisal to include broader options for the Hornsey Town Hall complex site.

The Gateway Review report is important context to a forthcoming Cabinet Report in Autumn 2014 when the options generated, results and conclusions of the options appraisal will be presented for consideration by Members.