HERITAGE, CULTURE AND LEISURE COMMITTEE |
5 September 2017 |
||||
Is the final decision on the recommendations in this report to be made at this meeting? |
No |
||||
|
|||||
Disposal of Land at Hayle Place, South Ward |
|||||
|
|||||
Final Decision-Maker |
Heritage, Culture and Leisure Committee |
||||
Lead Head of Service |
Head of Regeneration and Economic Development |
||||
Lead Officer and Report Author |
Jason Taylor, Leisure Manager |
||||
Classification |
Public |
||||
Wards affected |
South Ward |
||||
|
|
||||
This report makes the following recommendations to this Committee: |
|||||
1. That the two parcels of land to the north of Hayle Country Park (as shown in Appendix 1) be declared as surplus to operational requirements. 2. That a Public Notice, pursuant to Section 123 of the Local Government Act 1972, be placed in a local newspaper in order to consult local residents. |
|||||
|
|
||||
This report relates to the following corporate priorities: |
|||||
· Keeping Maidstone Borough an attractive place for all. Respecting the character and heritage of our borough. |
|||||
|
|
||||
Timetable |
|||||
Meeting |
Date |
||||
Corporate Leadership Team |
15 August 2017 |
||||
Heritage Culture and Leisure Committee |
5 September 2017 |
||||
Disposal of Land at Hayle Place, South Ward |
|
1. PURPOSE OF REPORT AND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1.1 This report provides the committee with information to enable them to take a decision as to whether to declare as surplus to operational requirements two parcels of land to the north of Hayle Country Park.
2. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
2.1 Hayle Place Country
Park was provided as open space as part of the Section 106 Developer
contribution from the ‘Land at Hayle Place’ development, which was agreed in
2008.
2.2 A master plan for
the site was produced by the developer in consultation with Valley Conservation
prior to the country park being laid out.
2.3 The site was passed over to the Hayle Park Nature Reserve Trust in 2014. The trust was established prior to this in 2013 and is formed of three parties, these being Maidstone Borough Council (MBC), Valley Conservation and Tovil Parish Council.
2.4 MBC owns two
parcels of land to the north of Hayle Place Country Park. These are shown edged
in blue in the transfer plan shown in Appendix I
2.5 Parcel 1 is known
as Mount Ararat Woodland and comprises of mature mixed coppice. It is
approximately 8,500m2 in size.
2.6 Parcel 2 is a
triangular piece of land of approximately 4,450m2 in size. It
consists of park land with a number of mature trees on it. In the initial S106
document for ‘the land at Hayle Place’, it was agreed in the ‘disposals plan’ that
this parcel of land would be transferred from MBC to become part of the Hayle
Park Nature Reserve manged by the Hayle Park Nature Reserve Trust. A surface
water storage lagoon was built in the south of Parcel 2, which it has been
agreed will be retained by MBC.
2.7 Both of these
parcels of land fall within the larger Loose Valley Conservation Area. The
Hayle Park Nature Reserve Trust has agreed to take both of these parcels of
land to be managed for conservation. Disposing of these
parcels of land would transfer the maintenance responsibility to the Hayle Park
Nature Reserve Trust.
2.8 It is suggested
that these parcels of land could be transferred via a lease to The Hayle Park
Nature Reserve Trust.
2.9 Currently a
‘Maidstone Borough Council Policy on Disposal of Property’ is in the process of
being adopted. It was approved by Policy and Resources Committee on 25th
July 2017 and will be submitted to full council for approval on 27th
September 2017. It sets out the Council’s policy to dispose of council owned
land and buildings (“Property”) if certain circumstances and criteria are met.
2.10 The section in the policy document
which relates to open space states that “On occasions, it might be beneficial
to both the Council and the community, to dispose of a small or discrete area
of open space. For example, this might be a strip of unused land which is
currently open space, but is required to enable a development of a larger area
of land; or it might be an area of open space which could benefit the community
if the Council transferred it to a third party. In all such circumstances, the
Council will have regard in its decision to the Council’s Parks and Open Spaces
10 Year Strategic Plan 2017 – 27, which itself ties in with other policies,
such as the Local Plan and The Economic Development Strategy.”
2.11 Regarding the two parcels of land to
the north of Hayle Place Country Park that this report is recommending as being
declared as surplus to operational requirement, it is believed that they are “
area[s] of open space which could benefit the community if the Council
transferred it to a third party.”
2.12 The method of disposal which will be recommended for these two parcels of land as detailed in the ‘Maidstone Borough Council Policy on Disposal of Property’ is leasehold disposal. This is described in the policy as “A leasehold disposal is the sale of an interest in the land for a number of years. The Council retains the freehold of the Property”.
2.13 The Policy on disposal gives more detail on this saying “The Council will use leasehold disposal if a Property is suitable for disposal, but there is a benefit to the Council in retaining freehold title, for example to ensure that the Council’s responsibilities in relation to the land are maintained in perpetuity. The Council will usually only dispose of Property to Parish Councils, community groups etc, by way of leasehold disposal. Any leasehold disposal, for any length of term, including short tenancies, would exclude security of tenure under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954. This prevents the tenant from “holding over” and continuing in the tenancy at the end of the leasehold period and also enables the Council to terminate the tenancy at the end of the leasehold period.”
2.14 The approach set out in this report in relation to the two parcels of land at Hayle Place is therefore consistent with the proposed new policy. Until the new policy is approved, Heritage, Culture and Leisure Committee cannot approve the disposal of the land. However, as in this case the land is worth less than Ł100,000, disposal can in any case proceed under officer delegation following advertisement of the proposed disposal as recommended in this report.
3. AVAILABLE OPTIONS
3.1 Declare both parcels of land as surplus to operational requirements.
3.2 Do not declare both parcels of land as surplus to operational requirements.
3.3 If the committee does decide to declare the land as surplus to operational requirements then a Public Notice pursuant of Section 123 of the Local Government Act 1972 would be placed
4. PREFERRED OPTION AND REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS
4.1 Officers recommend that both of these parcels of land are declared as surplus to operational requirements.
4.2 The reasons for
this recommendation are that Hayle Park Nature Reserve Trust has the skills,
experience and resources to manage these open spaces for conservation to a
higher level than MBC.
4.3 Both parcels of land will form part of the Loose Valley Conservation Area so should be maintained to the highest levels.
5. CONSULTATION RESULTS AND PREVIOUS COMMITTEE FEEDBACK
5.1 A
number of local ward councillors have links with the Hayle Park Nature Reserve
so have been involved in discussions regarding the disposal of these two
parcels of land.
5.2 Consultation will be through the publication of the Section 123 Notice.
6. NEXT STEPS: COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECISION
6.1 Following the placing of a public notice, pursuant with Section 123 of the Local Government Act 1972, the final decision on disposal of the land will be taken either by Policy and Resources Committee or the Chief Finance Officer under delegated authority if appropriate.
Issue |
Implications |
Sign-off |
Impact on Corporate Priorities |
Keeping Maidstone Borough an attractive place for all.
|
Head of Regeneration and Economic Development. |
Risk Management |
Any risk associated with this land is reduced if the responsibility is passed to Hayle Park Nature Reserve Trust. |
Head of Regeneration and Economic Development. |
Financial |
There will be a very minimal saving in maintenance costs if this land is transferred |
Section 151 Officer & Finance Team |
Staffing |
There will be no staffing implications. |
Head of Regeneration and Economic Development. |
Environmental/Sustainable Development |
Both of these parcels of land will be maintained to a higher level for conservation once transferred to Hayle Park Nature Reserve Trust |
Head of Regeneration and Economic Development. |
Asset Management |
The responsibility for managing this asset would transfer to a third party. |
Head of Regeneration and Economic Development. |
8. REPORT APPENDICES
The following documents are to be published with this report and form part of the report:
· Appendix I: Hayle Place Nature Reserve Plan Transfer Plan
9. BACKGROUND PAPERS
None