1.                        PURPOSE OF REPORT AND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1.1      The Council has been approached by Golding Homes with a request to purchase areas of open space land at Parkwood Parade in order to facilitate Phase 3 of the redevelopment of social housing in Parkwood.

1.2      In order for Golding Homes to achieve the number of social housing units they require on the site, it is necessary to include areas of land that are currently owned by the Council.

1.3      To dispose of the land, it needs to be declared surplus to operational requirements and the intention to dispose publically advertised. A recommendation to dispose can then be made to the Policy and Resources Committee, who will make the final decision.

2.                        INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

2.1      Golding Homes are redeveloping the majority of the social housing in Parkwood, and part of this work includes the redevelopment of Parkwood Parade.

2.2      In order to maximise the redevelopment opportunity at this location, Golding Homes would like to purchase some areas of open space currently owned by the Council. These areas are shown outlined in red on the site plan attached as Appendix I.

2.3      The areas of open space are grass verges adjacent to an existing parade of shops, and are currently managed by the Council’s grounds maintenance team. The total area of open space to be disposed of is 1,985 square metres.

2.4      The land has been confirmed by the Parks and Leisure team as having no strategic value to the Council.

3.                        AVAILABLE OPTIONS

3.1      The Heritage, Culture and Leisure Committee could decide to not declare the land surplus to operational requirements and retain it as part of the Council’s open space provision. This would allow the Council to control some small areas of grass verge in an urban area, but would prevent the proposed development of social housing and realise fewer properties on the site.

3.2      This is not recommended because the redevelopment of Golding Homes property in Parkwood is essential to providing quality social housing in the Borough and retaining ownership of the grass verges would reduce the amount of homes being built.

3.3      The Heritage, Culture and Leisure Committee could decide to dispose of only the land essential to the redevelopment of Parkwood Parade, which would still allow the desired amount of social housing to be built and retain open space areas around the development.

3.4      Retaining some of the open space would make future maintenance of the land overly complicated as it would be shared between Golding Homes and the Council. It is not recommended that this option is taken because the retained land would not be landscaped to the specification of the new development, and would detract from the quality of the development.

3.5      The Heritage, Culture and Leisure Committee could decide to declare the land surplus, relieving the Council of the maintenance responsibility and facilitating the full development potential of the Parkwood Parade site for social housing.

4.         PREFERRED OPTION AND REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

4.1      It is recommended that the Heritage, Culture and Leisure Committee declare all the land outlined in red on the attached plan surplus to operational requirements and authorise the placing of the Section 123 Notice to advertise the disposal.

4.2      The Notice will be placed in the Kent Messenger newspaper for two consecutive weeks and will give members of the public six weeks in which to submit any comments or objections to the Council.

4.3      Any comments or objections received will need to be considered by the Heritage, Culture and Leisure Committee before making a recommendation to the Policy and Resources Committee.

4.4      Should no comments or objections be received in response to the Notice, the matter will then be referred to the Policy and Resources Committee for a final decision concerning disposal of the land.

4.5      Declaring surplus all the land identified on the attached plan is the best option because this allows the land to be disposed of to Golding Homes, securing the redevelopment of the Parkwood Parade site and provision of social housing.

5.        CONSULTATION RESULTS AND PREVIOUS COMMITTEE FEEDBACK

5.1         Consultation will be through the publication of the Section 123 Notice.

6.        NEXT STEPS: COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECISION

6.1      If the recommendations have been agreed by the Heritage, Culture and Leisure Committee, the Parks and Leisure team will request that the Council’s Communications team publish the relevant Section 123 Notice in the Kent Messenger newspaper for two consecutive weeks.

6.2      After the six week period for comments and objections has expired, a recommendation will be made to the Policy and Resources Committee once any objections have been considered by the Heritage, Culture and Leisure Committee to make the final decision for disposal. 

7.        CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS

8.         REPORT APPENDICES

The following documents are to be published with this report and form part of the report:

·               Appendix I: Site plan

9.         BACKGROUND PAPERS

None