Issue - meetings

The Leader advised that a Deputation request had been received from the Hornsey Town Hall Appreciation Society in relation to item 15, Preferred Bidder to Secure the Future of Hornsey Town Hall, and invited Mr Tibber, the lead spokesperson, to put forward his Deputation to Cabinet.

Mr Tibber then came forward and handed a petition to the Leader which had been collated in response to the Cabinet report proposals and, within a week, attracted over 2300 signatures. The Deputation was further requesting the Cabinet consider the petition/report from the Hornsey Town Hall Appreciation Society and defer decision making on the preferred bidder for Hornsey Town Hall for one month.

Mr Tibber focused the Deputation’s presentation on challenging the recommendation based on the three key aspects where the successful bidder scored higher than the unsuccessful bidder, as set out within the report.

The Deputation contested the following:

• Whether the preferred bidder carried a lower planning risk and contended that a fresh planning application would be needed to take forward the preferred bidder’s plans for a Hotel and it could not be done under a S73.  Mr Tibber explained the Appreciation Society has received its own planning advice to this effect.

• That the guarantees required by the Council on the development work and ongoing operation of the building and community access would be difficult to enforce as the successful bidder was based in the Cayman Islands.  Mr Tibber questioned why a bidder would offer a guarantee.

• The legality around the special purpose vehicle being set up for the project, as this is currently not in existence.

Mr Tibber continued to refer to there not being a need for a Hotel in Crouch End and further emphasised the overseas status of the bidder which he claimed went against recent mayoral announcements on tackling the sale of domestic assets to overseas investors.

The Deputation asked the Cabinet to consider the employment impact of moving 74 businesses, located in the Town Hall, and highlighted the issues currently being experienced with relocation.

The Deputation concluded by asking Cabinet to consider the impact of the decision which could incur expensive legal challenges and the proposed decision being inconsistent with the Council’s Community Strategy. Mr Tibber asked Cabinet to pause and further consult on the proposals before making a decision on the future of Hornsey Town Hall.

The Leader thanked Mr Tibber for his Deputation and asked Cabinet Member colleagues to put forward their questions to the Deputation party.

Councillor Arthur, Cabinet Member for Finance and Health and a ward Councillor for Crouch End, questioned the concerns raised on planning risk, as the planning strategy put forward, within the tender submission of the unsuccessful bidder, was scored as providing a greater risk to the Council; with the preferred bidder scoring better on the planning strategy they put forward in their bid. Cllr Arthur asked for the response to be within the context of the public procurement and assessing the bids put forward.

Cllr Arthur asked the Deputation  ...  view the full minutes text for item 83