Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence from Members.

Apologies were received from Cllr V Slade

To receive information on any changes in the membership of the Committee.

Note – When a member of a Committee is unable to attend a meeting of a Committee or Sub-Committee, the relevant Political Group Leader (or their nominated representative) may, by notice to the Monitoring Officer (or their nominated representative) prior to the meeting, appoint a substitute member from within the same Political Group. The contact details on the front of this agenda should be used for notifications. 

Cllr M Andrews substituted for Cllr V Slade

Councillors are requested to declare any interests on items included in this agenda. Please refer to the workflow on the preceding page for guidance.

Declarations received will be reported at the meeting.

Cllr T O’Neil declared for the purpose of transparency in relation to agenda item Scrutiny of Sale of Christchurch By-Pass Cabinet report, that he had family members through marriage who worked at Waitrose Head Office.

To consider the Sale of Christchurch By-Pass Car Park report, previously considered by Cabinet on 10 March; and scheduled for Council consideration on 23 March.

The O&S Board is asked to scrutinise the report and make recommendations to Council as appropriate.

Cabinet member invited to attend for this item: Councillor Drew Mellor, Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Finance and Transformation.

The Cabinet report is circulated with the agenda for consideration by the O&S Board.  PLEASE NOTE:  Should the Board wish to discuss the detail of the exempt Appendix 2 the meeting will be required to move into Confidential (Exempt) session.

The Chairman advised that this special meeting had been called in order for the Board to consider this issue prior to full Council consideration on 23 March, of the recommendation from the Cabinet meeting of 10 March which was outlined at item 7f on the Council agenda. The recommendation which was due to be considered by Council was,

“RECOMMENDED that Council:-

(a)           agree to dispose of the Christchurch By-Pass Car Park, as outlined in red on the attached plan in Appendix 1, for the purchase price detailed in the confidential appendix to this report; and

(b)          delegate authority to the Corporate Property Officer in consultation with the Portfolio Holder, Monitoring Officer and Section 151 Officer to finalise the detailed terms of the disposal.

A copy of the related report had been circulated to the Board members and appears as Appendix ‘A’ to these minutes in the Minute Book. The Chairman asked the Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Finance and Transformation to introduce the report. The Leader outlined the key issues for consideration and explained that there was a balance to be achieved in considering this issue. He also advised that as this issue was particularly relevant to the Christchurch area, he felt that it was important that the local ward Councillors were able to take the lead on this decision. A number of issues were raised during the consideration of the report including:

·       Asset stripping – the Leader confirmed that there were no assets identified to be disposed of and there would be significant investment in Christchurch. However, the recommendation was to enable a permanent solution to be identified.

·       Regarding Waitrose requiring a single lease including the car park, that the current Waitrose lease didn’t run out until 2027, which was still several years away. Negotiations had only been taking place with Aberdeen Asset Management and not directly with Waitrose.

·       Whether other options had been considered, including leasing direct to Waitrose, or sub-letting the site. The Leader advised that the transaction outlined was as good as they believed was achievable.

·       That Waitrose had advised staff that they had no intention of leaving the site in Christchurch.

·       Concerns were raised with the valuation sum for the site and other financial impacts including the amount of revenue from the site and how this had been calculated and the licensing fee funding.

·       Lack of consultation with Ward Members prior to the decision being considered by Cabinet.

·       That it would appear reasonable to sell the site provided that the price was acceptable. However, a number of Councillors expressed dissatisfaction with the conditions of sale outlined within the report.

·       It was clarified that, whilst the proposal was in its initial stages when the Unity Alliance were in administration and the previous Leader was informed of the proposal, nothing had been presented to the previous Cabinet in a formal or informal way.

·       Whether borrowing for investment in the site had been considered. The Chief Financial Officer advised current PWLB (Public Works Loan  ...  view the full minutes text for item 171.