Agenda item

[Report of the Director for Planning, Regeneration and Development . To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Housing, Regeneration and Planning.]The report will set out the aims, objectives and terms of a Strategic Development Partnership to drive forward the development of a new urban centre at Tottenham Hale.

 

The Cabinet Member for Housing, Regeneration and Planning outlined the work to date on the Tottenham Hale Housing Zone which had involved important consultation  with residents and having the underpinning Council plans in place bring forward this important regeneration .

 

The report was confirming a strategic development partnership with Argent Related Limited ,a renowned regeneration partner that had previously worked on the Kings Cross regeneration and the regeneration of Central Manchester and Central Birmingham. They would in partnership, with the Council, take forward comprehensive delivery of a new District Centre at the heart of Tottenham Hale and a significant part of the first phase of the Tottenham Housing Zone. This was a new exciting phase for Tottenham Hale and would ensure that the areas fragmented by rail, water and roads would become connected into a single neighbourhood.

 

 

The Cabinet Member for Housing, Regeneration and Planning continued to thank the Regeneration team for their efforts in bringing forward these recommendations and further thanked the Chief Executive for his leadership in bringing this important project to fruition.

 

RESOLVED

 

1. That the Council enter into a Strategic Development Partnership Agreement with Argent Related based on the draft Heads of Terms attached in the exempt part of this report and to grant delegated authority to the Director for Regeneration, Planning and Development in consultation with the Chief Operating Officer, the AD Corporate Property and Major Projects and the Assistant Director of Corporate Governance [after consultation with the Lead Member for Housing, Regeneration and Planning and the Lead Member for Finance and Health ]to agree the final Heads of Terms and the final contract. 

 

2. That the following Council owned freehold sites shown edged in red on the plan (“Plan”) in Appendix 1A be declared surplus to requirements and subject to title investigations  be disposed of and for the considerations  as set out in the draft Heads of Terms (attached in the exempt part of this report) Argent Related:

 

1.   Welbourne Centre Site

2.   4 Ashley Road

3.   5 Ashley Road

4.   Land to rear of 4/5 Ashley Road, along Monument Way

5.   Land at the corner of Station Road and Hale Road

6.   Tottenham Hale Bus Station, Bus Stand lands

7.   Land at corner of The Hale and Hale Road

8.   Land fronting Watermead Way to the east of Ashley Road

9.   Land to the south of Station Road, along Ferry Lane/The Hale

10.                BP Garage Site, Hale Road, Ashley Road

 

3. That the disposal of the Welbourne Centre site referred to in recommendation 3.2[ Minute item 49 resolution 2] shall comprise both of a cash consideration and a long lease back (terms to be agreed as per recommendation 3.1 –  [Minute item  49 resolution 1) to the Council of the health centre to be constructed on the site (to shell and core) and that a further report be brought back to Cabinet at a later date  once an agreement has been reached with NHS England on the financial and operational arrangements for the health centre. 

 

4. That  the sales receipts from the disposals set out in recommendation   3.2[Minute item 49 resolution 2] above be used by the Council to support the provision of affordable housing within the Tottenham Housing Zone and capital projects in the Tottenham Hale DCF.

 

Reasons for decision

 

The proposed new Tottenham Hale District Centre is the first phase of the Tottenham Housing Zone and will be key to achieving long term sustainable change in the area.  The aim is to provide a new mixed use development at the heart of the District Centre, along with the necessary infrastructure through a new north/south street, and to provide a new health facility. 

 

The sites within the Strategic Development Partnership Area (see figure at section 4.3) and which will be the subject of the Strategic Development Partnership Agreement are critical to the delivery of the Tottenham Hale District Centre. The sites are held in a small number of ownerships including some owned or about to be acquired by the Council.  However, in order to ensure co-ordinated and comprehensive delivery the land ownerships must be pulled together in a cohesive fashion.

 

Figure 1 below shows the key landowning parties, who either control or are in  advanced negotiation to control, key sites.

 

A key part of the SDP Area is the Ferry Island Retail Park (site 11) has been acquired by Argent Related. Given the significant extent of the Argent Related controlled land, it has become clear that it would not be possible to deliver on the Council’s policy position (as set out in the Tottenham Area Action Plan) for a comprehensive redevelopment of this District Centre without entering into a partnership with this landowner.

 

In particular, it is only by entering into a partnership with Argent Related that the Council can deliver the new north-south link that will connect the Ashley Road area, through the centre of the District Centre and ultimately onwards into the Retail Park.

 

These two points form the core of the Council’s Exclusive Right’s rationale for treating solely with and entering into the Strategic Development Partnership Agreement with Argent Related.

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 1:[below] map of the Tottenham Hale Strategic Development Partnership Area

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is recommended therefore that the Council enters into a Strategic Development Partnership Agreement with Argent Related as one of the key means of delivering on the vision for the comprehensive development of a Tottenham Hale District Centre as set out in the Tottenham Area Action Plan and as a key element of the Tottenham Housing Zone.

 

It should be noted that this would include the disposal of the Council and assets (referred to in recommendations 3.2 ) with the land being drawn down by Argent Related subject to specific conditions precedents being met.

 

In seeking to progress the development of a new District Centre at Tottenham Hale a number of options were considered (see section 5). The preferred option is to enter into a contractual partnership with Argent Related for the reasons set out in this report.

 

In addition, given the proximity and importance of the Over Station Development site, the Council will work with Transport for London to understand how best the site can be brought into the same or similar arrangement in due course. This will take some time, due to uncertainties generated by the emerging Crossrail 2 proposals.

 

 

Alternative options considered

 

The Council has long been committed to the regeneration of Tottenham Hale and it has for some time been earmarked as a Growth Area (Haringey Local Plan: Strategic Policies, Tottenham Hale Urban Centre Masterplan SPD, Strategic Regeneration Framework, and Physical Development Framework). These plans include the development of a new mixed-use urban centre, or district centre.

 

In deciding whether or not to enter into a Strategic Development Partnership with Argent Related, the following other options were considered:

 

Option 1: Minimal intervention  In this option, the Council would have relied solely on the planning system to steer and control development. This option would have seen the Council disposing of its sites on the open market.

 

This option was discounted on the basis that it would have resulted in fragmented land ownership, an uncertain and risky outcome and would not have resulted in comprehensive, well managed development of the District Centre. In addition, this option would have not allowed for development of the substantial land interest held by Argent Related.  Non-development of these areas would substantially hinder the Council's ability to deliver on the Tottenham Area Action Plan. Furthermore, this option would have resulted in a number of small parcels of land being impossible to develop.

 

Option 2: Council build

This option would have seen the Council taking forward direct development on each of the sites which it owns.

 

This option was discounted as the scale of development envisaged is substantially greater than the Council’s capacity to deliver. In addition the Council lacks the expertise to deliver a complicated mixed use District Centre of this type. This option would also have resulted in the same issues identified for option 1.

 

Option 3: Secure a development partner for the Council sites by procurement

A third option would have seen Council (and possibly other public sector) lands put out to tender either through an OJEU procurement procedure, or through a developer framework, such as the London Development Panel.

 

The Council undertook soft market testing of the London Development Panel and participants. Residential developers, in particular, were interested in taking forward some sites at Tottenham Hale. While this option would have had some benefits, in particular gaining a variety of expressions of interest from the market, there were also significant shortcomings connected with this approach.

 

The primary reasons for discounting this option are the same as for option 1 in that the Council does not control the majority of land at the core of the District Centre and so any developer working with Council owned assets would not be able to deliver a comprehensive redevelopment of the District Centre, unless the Council were to exercise its compulsory purchase powers. Given the proportion of land owned by the Council and the presence of landowners with their own development aspirations, the CPO case was far from clear. As a result, there would have been a significant risk that this option would not help to pull in other lands into a comprehensive development and management structure and so would fail in terms of delivering a new approach to the delivery and long term management of the District Centre. 

 

Option 4: Comprehensive approach – a Strategic Development Partnership

This approach is the preferred option and is described in greater detail in this report. The option is based on the principle of working in partnership with a key significant landowner and developer within the core of the District Centre ( “SDP Area”).

 

The land at Ferry Island Retail Park, site 11 on the Plan has been identified as key to the delivery of a comprehensive development of the District Centre (in particular the N-S link) and was acquired on 8^th June 2016 by two subsidiary companies which are holding the site in trust for a subsidiary of Argent Related. As a result, the partnership arrangement has been negotiated directly with Argent Related (as the holding company) on the basis that the Exclusive Rights exemption applies in this case.  

 

This exemption relies on the characteristics of Argent Related's land ownership within the SDP Area and its importance to delivering the comprehensive approach envisaged by the Tottenham AAP.   Working with the Council, Argent Related will be in a position to deliver on the Council’s ambitions to bring forth both the comprehensive delivery described in the Tottenham Area Action Plan, but also the long-term and coordinated approach to maintenance and management envisaged by Hale District Centre Framework. Neither other land owner, nor any of the other options considered above will ensure   the delivery of the comprehensive redevelopment required.