Agenda and decisions

Members are asked to declare any interests in the items under consideration and in doing so state:

(1) the type of interest concerned either a

(a)   personal interest

(b)   prejudicial interest

(c)    disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI)

and

(2) the nature of the interest concerned

If any member requires advice on declarations of interests, they are advised to contact the Head of Democratic Governance in advance of the meeting.

To consider the Mental Health Provision for Young Men Scrutiny Review Final Report.

To report on progress made since Blackpool Council entered into its national Levelling Up Pilot with Government in March 2022.

The Executive agreed the recommendations as outlined above namely:

1. To note the report and the success of attracting £40m towards the Multiversity.

2. To authorise the £16million Prudential Borrowing, the costs of which are to be covered by Blackpool and the Fylde College, as incorporated within the Levelling Up Fund bid and to delegate to the Chief Executive the agreement of the final terms after consultation with the relevant Cabinet Member.

3. To note that pursuant to Executive decision EX35/2022 that the voluntary acquisition of properties for the Multiversity is continuing and that a further report will be brought to the Executive to authorise the making of a Compulsory Purchase Order should such powers be required.

4. To authorise the Head of Legal to enter into such contracts as are necessitated by the successful approval to deliver the scheme.

This report provides an update on the Levelling Up Fund (LUF) Round 2 bid submissions and seeks authority to take forward the next stages of the Multiversity project in the light of the successful £40m Levelling Up Fund 2 bid.

The Executive agreed the recommendations as outlined above namely:

1. To note the report and the success of attracting £40m towards the Multiversity.

2. To authorise the £16million Prudential Borrowing, the costs of which are to be covered by Blackpool and the Fylde College, as incorporated within the Levelling Up Fund bid and to delegate to the Chief Executive the agreement of the final terms after consultation with the relevant Cabinet Member.

3. To note that pursuant to Executive decision EX35/2022 that the voluntary acquisition of properties for the Multiversity is continuing and that a further report will be brought to the Executive to authorise the making of a Compulsory Purchase Order should such powers be required.

4. To authorise the Head of Legal to enter into such contracts as are necessitated by the successful approval to deliver the scheme.

To acknowledge a number of delivery options that have been fully investigated in relation to the completion of housing on the West site at Foxhall Village (also known as the Rigby Road development, land bounded by Seasiders Way/ Rigby Road/ Tyldesley Road/ Princess Street). To seek approval for Officers to pursue the Preferred Option.

The Executive resolved as follows:

1. To agree that Appendix 5a to the Executive report, the Financial Considerations is not for publication by virtue of Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 as it includes detailed costings that enable the scheme to be viable. The publication of such information could prejudice continuing and future negotiations.

2. To approve  the preferred option (Option 4) in relation to completion of housing on the West site at Foxhall Village in partnership with Great Places Housing Group (GPHG). To grant delegated authority to the Director of Strategy and Assistant Chief Executive or the Director of Resources (where appropriate, in finalising the terms of the arrangement subject to the parameters set out in Appendix 5a to the Executive report.

3. To approve the Council’s commitment to complete the remaining enabling / supporting works in relation to completion of drainage and roads (see details in Appendix 5a to the Executive report).

4. To grant delegated authority to the Head of Legal to authorise the drafting and agreement of the relevant Heads of Terms and completion of the Development Agreement/Lease with Great Places Housing Group. This in turn will enable Great Places Housing Group to deliver 88 new affordable units on Foxhall Village West site.

To agree the principle of redevelopment at Whitegate Manor, Whitegate Drive for sheltered accommodation using Housing Revenue Account resources

The Executive agreed the recommendations as outlined above namely:

1. To support the principle of redevelopment of the Whitegate Manor site using Housing Revenue Account resource for new-build sheltered housing.

2. To grant delegated authority to the Director of Strategy and Assistant Chief Executive to continue with detailed design work to develop a detailed scheme for consideration at a future Executive meeting and support the work to relocate existing users of the building to enable future demolition and redevelopment to take place.

3. To approve the transfer of land from the General Fund into the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and consider opportunity for provision of a capital receipt to the general Fund for the land.

To provide and update on the Town Centre Car Parking Strategy since it was agreed at the Executive on 25 February 2019, to summarise the current and future demand for car parking in the Town Centre, and to set out the further steps that need to be taken in order to meet that demand.

The Executive resolved as follows:

1. To agree that Appendix 7d to the Executive report, the Financial Considerations is not for publication by virtue of Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 as it includes detailed costings that enable the scheme to be viable. The publication of such information could prejudice continuing and future negotiations.

2. To note the changes in Town Centre car parking provision since the 2019 report.

3. To agree to the principle of providing  additional car parking spaces in a multi-storey car park servicing the town centre to accommodate the demand as set out in the report

4. To authorise the Director of Communications and Regeneration to pursue detailed negotiations with the developer and other interested parties to assemble the land required and bring forward proposals for surface car parking and the multi-storey car park as outlined in the report.

5. To instruct relevant Officers to commence all necessary preparatory works for the making of a Compulsory Purchase Order to support the site assembly of the land required for the car park and any associated road improvements and road closures.

6. To agree, in principle, that if other options are exhausted then the Council would consider the use of Compulsory Purchase Order powers to assemble the site outlined in Appendix 7c to the Executive report.

7. That Officers be required to bring a further report to the Executive to authorise the making of a Compulsory Purchase Order should such powers be required.

8. To note that expenditure will be incurred within the existing approval in the Capital Programme as authorised in February 2019, and that further authorisation will be sought on the final proposals as necessary once the detailed design of the car park has been completed and costed.

9. To delegate authority to the Director of Communications and Regeneration to authorise expenditure and contracts to deliver the additional car parking proposed  within the financial limits already approved  

10. To authorise the Head of Legal to prepare legal documentation and enter into and complete appropriate documents/contracts as necessary to complete any associated transactions.

The Executive agreed the recommendations as outlined above namely:

1. To agree, in principle, that if all other options are exhausted then the Council would consider the use of Compulsory Purchase Order powers to assemble the site outlined in Appendix 8a to the Executive report (Land Assembly Plan).

2. To authorise the Director of Communications and Regeneration to pursue detailed negotiations with interested parties as necessary.

3. To authorise the Director of Communications and Regeneration to pursue negotiations with Blackpool Football Club in relation to the transfer of the land required to deliver the Revoe Community Sports Village project, as shown on the plan in Appendix 8b to the Executive report (Masterplan).

4. To delegate authority to the Director of Communications and Regeneration to authorise expenditure and contracts pursuant to decisions 1, 2 and 3 above.

5. To instruct relevant Officers to commence all necessary preparatory works for the making of a Compulsory Purchase Order to support the site assembly of the land required and any associated road improvements and road closures.

6. That Officers be requested to bring a further report to the Executive to seek the authority prior to the making of a Compulsory Purchase Order should such powers be required.

7. To authorise the Head of Legal Services to prepare legal documentation and enter into and complete appropriate documents/contracts as necessary to complete the transactions.

This report and appendix is currently exempt from publication by virtue of Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. It is considered on balance that the public interest would not be served by publishing information at this stage as this information would undermine the Council’s position in future negotiations and could risk the scheme not being able to proceed.