Agenda item

(Director of Neighbourhoods) To consider the attached report AMED-014-2015/16.

The Director of Neighbourhoods presented a report to the Cabinet Committee and updated them on further progress which had been achieved since the publication of the Agenda.

(1)        Epping Forest Shopping Park – There was a separate report before the Cabinet Committee at Agenda Item 11 which would be heard in private session.

(2)        Oakwood Hill Depot – Construction of the new depot was progressing, the contract was at week 24 out of a contract period of 36 weeks. The cladding was complete, the windows were installed and the inside building works were complete. The Section 278 road words to relocate the bus stop and install traffic islands commenced on the 26 January. There were regular meetings and the Depot was on schedule to complete in April 2016.

(3)        Pyrles Lane Nursery – A revised planning application for the site would be considered by the District Development Management Committee on the 24 February 2016. It was hoped that the revised application would resolve some of the concerns regarding density and access on which the application was originally refused. The redesign had widened the access from 4.1m to 4.3m which would help vehicle access and include a pedestrian footpath.

(4)        St John’s Road – One of the major delays on this scheme was getting an agreement between Essex County Council (ECC) and the developer Frontier Developments with respect to an overage agreement that ECC required to be put into place to protect their position, in the event that the component parts of the scheme, which currently met the design and development brief, were to change or there was to be an excessive developers profit.

Epping Forest District Council hosted a meeting on the 29 January, with senior officers of ECC and directors of Frontier Developments. A number of issues were discussed and negotiations should be completed by the end of the month. It was hoped that an indicative time table with key milestones would be available at the next meeting.

Options were being looked at to temporarily use the land. A car park had been suggested, but this was deemed as not viable due to issues around security and the comparative quality of provision with regard to the adjacent car parks which were fully covered by CCTV and had new pay and display machines. Once the land came into the Council’s ownership this would be revisited.

(5)        North Weald Airfield – At their meeting on 3 December 2015, the Cabinet agreed with the results of a marketing exercise for an Operational Partner at North Weald Airfield and this would go out to advert in April/May 2016.

(6)        Sir Winston Churchill / The Broadway, Debden – The development was now in the hands of Higgins Construction who were developing the site. Completion was originally due July 2017 but problems have arisen with the ground being too soft and the piling going very slow.

There was an area to the rear of the Sir Winston Churchill site which was being considered for affordable housing. Moat Homes, a housing association were going to develop this area building approximately 15 units but with the Governments change in the rental arrangements they have determined that this was no longer affordable. This was now going through the Council House-building programme to present options to Members on how the Council should take this site forward.

Officers of the Asset Management team have recently come into possession of the mandate for the letting of the ground floor retail space and agents Latham High were advising of the various merits of apportioning the space and the advising on the kind of tenant we could expect to attract. This will be guided by Higgins with regard to the timescale.

(7)        Ongar Academy – A full planning application had now been received and would be considered by the District Development Management Committee early this year. It was hoped that the new school would be ready to take year 7 pupils in at the start of the school year in September 2017.

(8)        Town Mead Depot – As a result of the Environment Agency’s advice that this site was not suitable for any form of residential development other options were being considered.

(9)        Hillhouse Leisure / Community Hub – Five companies had been invited to tender for the Leisure Management Contract. The proposal was for a new Waltham Abbey Leisure Centre which would house a new swimming pool and a new Health Centre and the potential for care and independent living accommodation to be provided by Essex County Council. There would be community consultation events scheduled for late May 2016.

Resolved:

To note the progress on the Council’s Asset Management and Development Projects.

Reasons for Decision:

To comply with the Cabinet Committee’s previous request to monitor the development of the Council’s property assets on a regular basis.

Other Options Considered and Rejected:

None, as this monitoring report was for information not action.