Issue - meetings

1.       That a conditional freehold sale contract (subject to planning) be approved with McCarthy & Stone Retirement Lifestyles Limited on the terms set out in the exempt heads of terms at Appendix 5.  

2.       That authority be delegated to the Strategic Director to agree final details of the contract of sale within the parameters set out in exempt Appendix 5. 

Councillor Tod drew members’ attention to four display boards summarising the Bar End community engagement feedback from September 2023 which were available at the meeting to view.   Cabinet took a short adjournment to enable all those present to consider the contents of the boards.  The information was subsequently published on the Cabinet meeting page here.

Councillor Tod introduced the report and highlighted that it had been considered at Scrutiny Committee the previous evening and a copy of the draft resolution from that meeting had been circulated to all present (and detailed in the minute below).  In addition, the use of the Bar End depot had been the subject of a petition submitted by the Highcliffe Forum to Council on 18 September.  Further details were provided in paragraph 6.3 of the report.

At the invitation of the Leader, Councillors Lee and Horrill addressed Cabinet as summarised briefly below.

Councillor Lee

He believed that the consideration of the nature and environment matters required improvement and requested that the proposal be delayed to allow changes to the design framework.  He also queried the reference to various outdated plans throughout and lack of reference to the council’s declaration of a climate emergency and nature emergency.  In general, he believed the proposed development was too people centric and improvements should be made in terms of nature permeability.

Councillor Horrill

She welcomed the opportunity to build new homes on a brownfield site but queried why there was not an assurance that the affordable housing allocation be retained by the council.  She asked why freehold sale of the site was proposed. She queried how the proposal was complimentary to the Sports and Leisure Park and believed that the health benefits were unclear.  She also asked how the residents’ concerns relating to the traffic and parking would be addressed, why the proposal had taken so long up to this point and queried the usefulness of consideration by Scrutiny Committee given its timing the evening before.

The Strategic Directors and the Corporate Head of Asset Management responded to the comments made including advising the lengthy process that would be required to update the design framework, providing further detail on the bidder assessment process and the reasons why a freehold sale was recommended.  It was also confirmed that the council had requested first refusal if any of the affordable housing was subsequently sold.

The Chief Executive provided an update on the discussions held at Scrutiny Committee the previous evening and in particular the draft resolutions for Cabinet which had been agreed with the Scrutiny Committee chairperson.  The four recommendations were:

a)    That the results of the 2022 consultation be made available.

b)    That further consideration be given to the parking access and provision related to the convenience store and potential of impact on nearby residents.

c)    To review the climate section to ensure statements made related to what the council is able to influence.

d)    To review the wording of item 6 within the purpose statement, particularly the statement  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9

RECOMMENDATION:

It is recommended that the committee scrutinise and comment on the proposals within the attached cabinet report, ref CAB3447 which is to be considered by cabinet at its meeting on the 15 October 2024.

NOTE

This report contains exempt appendices (appendix 3, 4 and 5), if members wish to discuss any part of these exempt papers, then the procedure under agenda item 6a applies.

Councillor Martin Tod, Leader and Cabinet Member for Asset Management introduced the report, ref CAB3447 which set out proposals for the Bar End Depot, Bar End Road, Winchester - Disposal, (available here). The introduction included the following points.

1.    The site had been listed for disposal for some time to enable its redevelopment and after a thorough and rigorous process, the Council now had a preferred bidder.

2.    The report outlined the planning, policy, public engagement, marketing, and bidder selection process undertaken.

3.    Moving the project to the next stage would deliver real benefits for the immediate area and the wider district. The redevelopment would end the blight of the depot site. It would bring new housing, including new affordable housing, a much-wanted convenience store, better pedestrian routes, and a new state-of-the-art care home.

4.    The Highcliffe Community Plan had indicated that having a shopping facility was the highest priority out of a list of 22 factors that would most improve the area.

5.    Councillor Tod was joined by Simon Hendy, Strategic Director, and Geoff Coe, Corporate Head of Asset Management, to take questions and answer any queries about the proposals.

Janet Berry on behalf of Highcliffe Community Forum for Action addressed the committee. She emphasised that she felt that the depot proposal did not fully respond to the Highcliffe Community Plan, which prioritised a community-run hub, shop, and activities for residents. She requested the publication of the full results from the depot consultations and inquired about the planned review of the Design Framework in 2023.

Emma Back addressed the committee, and provided the historic context to the depot redevelopment. She highlighted that initial plans included community facilities complementing the sport and leisure park, but these had been lost in the current development which focused on residential healthcare and a shop. She urged the committee to consider how the development would serve the wider neighbourhood and manage access and parking, particularly for the convenience store and leisure centre users.

The committee was asked to scrutinise and comment on the proposals within the attached cabinet report, ref CAB3447, which was to be considered by cabinet at its meeting on the 15th October 2024.

The committee proceeded to ask questions and debate the report and after agreeing to move into private session (in accordance with the procedure set out on the agenda under item 6a) also considered the content of the exempt appendices contained under agenda item 6a. A number of questions were asked including the following:

1.          A question was asked whether the proposed development aligned with the Regulation 19 allocation for the site.

2.          Further clarification was sought on whether the proposal was considered mixed-use, given that it included senior living units, a care home, affordable housing apartments, and a convenience store, but lacked other facilities.

3.          Clarification was requested on the safeguards in place to prevent developers from altering the agreed terms due to viability concerns, particularly in relation to room sizes  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6