Issue - meetings

Report of the Assistant Director, Planning and Regeneration to recommend that the Hale Village s106 legal agreement signed in 2007 be revised.

TO FOLLOW

The Committee considered a report, previously circulated, which set out the background and current position, the proposed revisions to the s106 agreement, the potential benefits and implications of agreeing these s106 revisions and other relevant factors. The presentation of the report highlighted the key issues, and advised the Committee of the proposed amendments to the recommendations of the report, which were covered in the tabled addendum. The Committee was advised of the revisions proposed in the report, which included provisions that £2.6m would be paid within 21 days of signing the new agreement, with a further £0.5m to be paid within 4 months of the new agreement, phased payments of up to £2.647m linked to future land sales, 60% of sales overage receipts (subject to conditions) for the balance of up to £3.664m and proportionate liability for plot leaseholders. The revisions provided for up to £10.2m s106 contributions, indexed to November 2010. The Committee was advised that receipt of the contributions would be dependent on the performance of the housing market and that there was a risk that the full £10.2m would not be delivered. Officers felt that the current proposals, however, offered the best prospect of securing the optimum amount of contributions.

The Committee expressed concern that this would be an issue that was referred back to the Committee for further revision in future, and sought assurance that this would not be the case, in response to which officers advised that they were seeking an end to the renegotiations; it was felt that the proposed revisions offered the best chance of reaching a final agreement on this issue, enabling the development to move forward on a stable basis. The Committee asked about the position with the health centre, in response to which it was reported that the Core Strategy stated that this site should have a health facility, the applicant was committed to having a health facility on the site and construction of a building for a health facility was due to be completed within the year; the Council was meeting with the PCT on a quarterly basis to encourage them to occupy the site, however current changes to the NHS arrangements meant that this work would be ongoing.

The Committee asked whether agreeing the proposals would put the Council in a less favourable position than at present, in response to which it was reported that it was felt that this approach would give the Council the best chance of receiving the maximum level of contributions. In response to a question from the Committee, it was confirmed that any successive owners of the site would be bound by the Section 106 agreement. The Committee expressed concern that amounts owed to Anglo Irish Bank (AIB) and the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), as mentioned in the report, might take precedence over s106 contributions to the Council, in response to which officers reported that, while detailed figures could not be discussed in public, the current projections indicated that, while repaying those  ...  view the full minutes text for item 138