Agenda item

At the invitation of the Chairman, Councillor Gottlieb addressed the Committee as summarised below:

·         He believed that the Council should not be spending additional monies on the project without approval of a proper business plan.  He did not know how much had been spent to date but estimated it to be in the region of £2m, possibly rising to £3m. 

·         He requested further information be supplied for Councillors on expected tenants, in the form of a confidential report if necessary. 

·         He asked that no further action be taken until firm commitments had been received from possible tenants and a full business plan agreed.

John Hearn (City of Winchester Trust) spoke during public participation and in summary made the following points:

·         Concern regarding the change to the position of the access from Sussex Street to Gladstone Street.  This would result in all vehicles going to the Carfax site travelling via Upper High Street, Newburgh Street and Gladstone Street resulting in a number of negative implications, including on traffic volumes and proposals for improved pedestrian access.

·         The revised access proposals could also impact on proposals for changes to the one-way system, improvements to the City Road junction and public realm improvements in Sussex Street.

·         The Trust considered the provision of 150 car parking spaces was incorrect: planning policy allowed no office car parking on the Carfax site due to its sustainable location.

·         There did not appear to be any priority for public realm improvements beyond the immediate Carfax site area.

The Chairman stated that the County Council had raised technical and safety issues regarding access from Sussex Street.  Other matters raised, including any changes to the one-way system were being considered as part of the Movement Strategy.  A meeting had recently been held with the Trust to explain the current situation.  The Strategic Director: Place suggested further discussions could take place if required.

The Head of Programme introduced the report and drew Members’ attention to key elements.  He noted a correction to paragraph 7.2 of the report as there were currently 223 car parking spaces across the whole of the Carfax site (108 public and 115 leased to HCC/Police).  The scheme proposed a maximum of 150 spaces.

Paragraph 11.6 of the report outlined the background to the approval of the strategic business case for the development in March 2017 which remained valid.  The scheme was progressing in line with acknowledged good practice as summarised in the report.

The Head of Programme confirmed that discussions were ongoing with Network Rail/SW Railway as landowner and key stakeholder with a further meeting due to take place the following week.

The Head of Programme emphasised that possible further future public realm improvements would not be frustrated or constrained by the scheme’s progress.  Similarly, the scheme would be “future-proofed” to allow future changes and developments following publication of the Movement Strategy.

During questions from Members’, a number of queries were raised and responded to by the Head of Programme and Strategic Director as summarised below:

·         The site was assessed as the right location for office space in the Local Plan having regard to its sustainable location.  With regard to the suggestion by one Member that Winnall was a more suitable location, the Strategic Director confirmed that the Council was actively considering opportunities in that area.  However, this was not directly relevant to the matter under discussion at this meeting.

·         Archaeological implications would be taken into account.

·         The scheme proposed fewer car parking spaces than currently located in the area which should result in fewer traffic movements;

·         It was hoped to be able to give further details of prospective tenants at the next meeting, scheduled for December 2018.  The Head of Asset Management had contacted prospective tenants and agents and had received a high degree of interest.  The letters of support contained as Appendices 2 and 3 of the report reinforced this.  It was agreed to consider whether further details about future tenants could be made available in an exempt appendix to a future report. 

·         The December meeting would consider the viability of the scheme moving forward through the outline business case and seek Gateway approval to RIBA Stage 3.

·         The Local Plan sets out the aspiration for non-residential development that requires an Energy Performance Certificate to meet ‘BREEAM Outstanding’ standards.  However, this was acknowledged to be a very high aspiration with only a very few buildings achieving this standard.

·         Discussions had been undertaken with the County Council, as Highway Authority, regarding the previously proposed access via Sussex Street.  Detailed evaluation of the proposals had led to Gladstone Street now being the proposed access route.

·         The Head of Programme considered that the £1.8m approved in the Capital Strategy was sufficient to take the project through to the submission of a planning application.

During debate, a number of Members spoke in support of the proposals and acknowledged the significant amount of work and consultation that had been undertaken to date.  However, two Members expressed concern that careful regard should be had to the height and style of any development in this area.

Following discussion, Members agreed to re-phrase recommendation 1 of the report to remove the word “endorse”.  In addition, it was noted that recommendation 2 should include the requirement to discuss with the City of Winchester Trust. 

The Committee agreed to the following for the reasons set out above and outlined in the report.

RESOLVED:

1.         That the latest progress on the project be noted and the next steps as set out in this report be agreed for both the proposed Carfax development scheme and adjoining public realm proposals.

2.         That following discussion with the RIBA Independent Design Advisor work required for the preparation of a planning application for submission in March 2019 be started.

3.         That capital expenditure of £400,000 of the £1.8m approved in the Capital Strategy in February 2018 (CAB3014) be approved to take the project through to the submission of a planning application, in 2018/19.