Agenda item

Whinney Hill and Chesterhill Avenue - Sites Disposal

Report of the Strategic Director of Adult Care, Housing and Public Health

 

Recommendations:-

 

1.    That disposal on the open market of the Council-owned sites Whinney Hill and Chesterhill Avenue be approved.

 

2.    That the consideration and acceptance of the offer presenting the best consideration be undertaken by  the Assistant Director of Housing and the Acting Assistant Director of Planning, Regeneration and Transport, in consultation with the Strategic Director for Finance and Customer Services and the Cabinet Member for Housing.

 

3.    That the Assistant Director of Legal Services be authorised to prepare and execute all necessary contractual documentation.    

 

Minutes:

Further to Minute No. 94 of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 21st January, 2019 consideration was given to the report which detailed how the Council undertook a procurement process in 2013 to identify a developer partner to build homes on Whinney Hill and Chesterhill Avenue.  A development agreement was signed in 2014.  This required a start on site on Whinney Hill before Chesterhill Avenue would be released.  A start on site was not achieved within the agreed period and the legal agreement ended in 2017. 

 

The most straightforward route to delivery of these sites was considered to be selling them on the open market, with conditions built in to the sale agreement to ensure an early start on site.  It was likely that any purchaser would require their purchase to be conditional upon the grant of planning permission.

 

The two sites would be marketed separately, but could together deliver approximately 240 homes which would make a significant contribution to Rotherham’s housing growth target.  It was essential that work started as soon as possible as local communities were understandably frustrated at the lack of visible progress over the past five years, and the anti-social behaviour that had been attracted by these large, vacant sites.

 

Marketing the sites by informal tender was considered to be the most expedient route to delivery and was, therefore, the recommended approach as this allowed increased flexibility over the terms of the offer and could include the opportunity to share uplifts in the development value through overage and clawback mechanisms. 

 

Resolved:-  (1)  That disposal on the open market of the Council-owned sites Whinney Hill and Chesterhill Avenue be approved.

 

(2)  That the consideration and acceptance of the offer presenting the best consideration be undertaken by  the Assistant Director of Housing and the Acting Assistant Director of Planning, Regeneration and Transport, in consultation with the Strategic Director for Finance and Customer Services and the Cabinet Member for Housing.

 

(3)  That the Assistant Director of Legal Services be authorised to prepare and execute all necessary contractual documentation.    

Supporting documents: