Decision details

The Cabinet Member, in consultation with the Leader of the Council: 

1.    Authorised the Council to enter into a land assembly collaboration agreement with Hawksworth Securities plc to enable the development of the first phase of North Westgate to proceed within the scope of the outline planning permission 18/01374/OUT approved by the Planning and Environmental Protection Committee on 27th November 2018.

2.    Authorised the Council to procure the services of a Land Referencing Agent and Valuation Surveyor (not expected to exceed £60k) for the purpose of clarifying land ownership title and constraints across the proposed development site and completing accurate valuation of all remaining third party owned land and property to inform and update the Council’s budget for assembling the third party land and cleansing title to enable development to proceed.

3.    Authorised the procurement by the Council of necessary expert legal advice and other expertise to support the Council at a CPO Inquiry (not expected to exceed £100k), should it prove necessary for the Council as Planning Authority to make a CPO (Compulsory Purchase Order) resolution.

4.    Authorised financial arrangements proposed in this report and set out in the summary Heads of Terms shown in the commercially protected information at Appendix 2 whereby the Council can be required by Hawksworth Securities plc to purchase third party properties, on terms and at a price negotiated by Hawksworth Securities plc, but approved by the Council (such approval not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed).  In relation to any such land so acquired, and in relation to the Council’s existing land on site, the Council could recover all its costs and transfer properties at Market Value to the scheme promoter Hawksworth Securities plc if the necessary conditions for the scheme to progress to construction procurement have been met;

5.    Agreed that, in the event of failure of a CPO to be confirmed by the Secretary of State (and for the avoidance of doubt, the Cabinet or Cabinet Member would first need to approve the making of a CPO at a future date and following a further report), the costs incurred in the making and pursuit of the CPO and related CPO Inquiry costs would be shared on a 50:50 basis by the Council and the scheme promoter Hawksworth Securities plc.

6.    Agreed that in the event that the scheme promoter is unable to progress the scheme through failure of a CPO, or for other reasons, (a) that the Council having by then expended up to an estimated £9m to secure land assets (as set out at item 2 above) may, depending on market demand and fluctuations, not be able to recover the entirety of such expenditure, and (b) that the Council should retain an option that will allow it to acquire the land assets at North Westgate then owned by Hawksworth Securities plc at market value and progress the scheme either itself or with and through another developer.

7.    Delegated the authority to agree the finalisation of the necessary legal contract documentation to give effect to the Heads of Agreement at Appendix 2 to the Executive Director of Place and Economy and the Director of Law and Governance for PCC and CCC.  

The proposed recommendations will enable the council and Hawksworth Securities plc to progress the approved North Westgate scheme to the benefit of the City and its local economy.

Options Appraisal

Given that Hawksworth Securities plc own 50% of the land at North Westgate there appears to be four main options.

Option One - Do nothing.

In this scenario Hawksworth Securities plc can be expected to implement the scheme without Council support potentially acquiring further properties as and when they come to the market.  Hawksworth Securities plc may bring forward proposals for the incremental development of their land holdings at some point which would not be likely to provide a high-quality solution to the regeneration of the area but may be difficult to resist if the Council is unable to support the comprehensive scheme at this time. Hawksworth Securities plc could also continue to manage income from the car parks they own and, at some point, sell the land to a new investor. This option is unlikely to see regeneration taking place in the near future. 

Option Two - Attempt to buy out Hawksworth’s interest.

This option is likely to be achieved only at a premium to market value and would make it difficult for the Council to progress a viable scheme thereafter.  Hawksworth Securities plc have not indicated any willingness to sell their assets at this time or any point in the future.

Option Three - Pursue a CPO to acquire Hawksworth assets.

This would have little prospect of success as Hawksworth Securities plc would be expected to resist the CPO.  They would have good grounds for objecting given that they own 50% of the site and have already expressed a willingness to progress a comprehensive scheme, which the Council has supported through its role as the local planning authority.  The risk would be that the scheme delivered in this way would be on a smaller scale, as it would not have the benefit of CPO powers, and therefore fall short of the Council’s aspirations for the area.

Option Four – Collaboration (recommended option)

Pursue the proposed land collaboration agreement with Hawksworth Securities plc to facilitate the delivery of their approved scheme. This is the recommended option.

None.

Web link to Hawksworth Securities plc Planning Application: http://plandocs.peterborough.gov.uk/NorthgatePublicDocs/01169240.pdf