Agenda item

Purpose of Report

To update the Executive on the progress of the Western Growth Corridor development from the perspective of its landownership and developer role and to seek a decision to proceed with taking the development forward.

Decision

That the Executive:

(1)  Approves to continue to develop the Western Growth Corridor sustainable urban extension planning application in line with the updated vision and objectives.

(2)  Authorises officers to negotiate a Delivery Agreement with the adjacent landowner (Lindum) on the terms outlined in the report.

(3)  Agrees the principle of accepting the Homes England funding offer under the Local Authority Accelerated Construction Programme.

(4)  Delegates to the Section 151 Officer and the Major Development Director authority to agree the detail of the grant from Homes England and in consultation with the Leader enter into the Funding Agreement for the first phase of infrastructure opening up costs.

(5)  Agrees that officers progress the work required to deliver the associated outputs and conditions of the Homes England Funding Agreement including the appropriation of the necessary land from Housing Revenue Account to General Fund that would result in a further report back to the Executive.

(6)  Agrees the targeted timetable of actions set out in the report, including the public consultation.

(7)  Agrees that officers continue to develop a delivery model for the Council’s landholding for consideration at a future meeting of the Executive.

Alternation Options Considered and Rejected

Other options explored were set out in paragraph 13.1 of the report.

Key risks associated with the proposal were set out at paragraph 13.2 of the report, which included reference to a risk register which had been in place and had evolved throughout the development of the scheme.

Reason for Decision

Work on progressing delivery of the Western Growth Corridor development had been held up for over a year whilst resolution was sought on the following issues:

·         the Scarborough family landownership was structured to enable them to enter into the necessary agreements to bring forward the wider development and to then deliver development on their landholding;

·         undertaking of further detailed transport work to reflect the new county highways model with further analysis to identify the optimum highways access strategy for the development that also gave the best benefits to the existing residents and businesses in the adjacent communities and the wider city area;

·         the outcome of the Accelerated Construction funding bid.

Updates on these aspects of the scheme were set out in paragraphs 2.2 to 2.9 of the report, together with a revised project plan set out in paragraph 2.10 which included key milestones and a targeted timeline, with completion of the phase one infrastructure targeted for Winter 2020/21.

Consideration was also being given as to how the Council brought forward development on its landholding should consent be granted. Options included the setting up of a wholly owned development company, entering into a joint venture with a development partner and the Council itself undertaking a mix of development options. The latter involved the Council developing a model whereby it would retain control of the land and implement a mix of options including developing some itself for Council housing and investment purposes as well as selling parcels of land for a range of housing and employment development. This model would also include preparing a range of detailed development briefs and proposals for areas such as the Leisure Village and the open and recreational space linking in with Hartsholme Country Park.

Officers had reviewed the Council’s vision and objectives for the Western Growth Corridor to identify any changes needed to reflect the updated Local Plan policy position and to verify their continued appropriateness. The report outlined the vision and objectives originally adopted by the Council in December 2013 which then formed the basis, where appropriate, for the development of the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan policy in relation to the Western Growth Corridor. This included a range of very detailed work on housing need, economic considerations, strategic transport modelling and a whole raft of place shaping policy considerations over the lifetime of the plan 2012 to 2036. As part of the Local Plan preparation process the Council approved a specific Western Growth Corridor topic paper which, alongside the other evidence, formed the basis for the extensive consultation and a public examination by the Planning Inspectorate. This process led to the adoption in April 2017 of specific policies on Western Growth Corridor, as set out in paragraphs 5.5 and 5.6 of the report.

The Local Plan set out a very clear vision for Western Growth Corridor alongside policy requirements that reflected the Council’s own vision and objectives for the site, with one main exception being the vehicular link between the site and the A46 as set out in the vision. It was therefore recommended that the Council used policies LP28 and LP30 and the previously adopted objectives from December 2013 to shape the landowner development of the site and the principles within the Delivery Agreement.

In terms of the Delivery Agreement, it was recommended that the key principles broadly remained the same as those previously adopted by the Council and would therefore contain the following sections:

·         parties;

·         purpose;

·         development;

·         planning;

·         infrastructure;

·         infrastructure costs;

·         infrastructure works;

·         grant monies;

·         security;

·         assignment;

·         development;

·         transport;

·         fetter of discretion;

·         general terms in relation to aspects such as matters of confidentiality, dispute resolution, service of notices, means of communication via representatives.

Significant work had been done since 2013 and particularly in the last two years to bring forward a planning application for the Western Growth Corridor. This included the public consultation which ran from 28 June to 15 November 2017. Both the public and statutory consultation identified a key concern around highways and the access strategy for the site, further to which two further pieces of transport modelling work had been undertaken incorporating a re-run of the access options through the updated Lincolnshire County Council highways model that became available for use in November 2017 and further detailed junction modelling and movement analysis in 2018. It was noted that the majority of this work was complete.

Extensive work on the planning application was completed last year and a review of this work had informed the updating of some of the survey work and the completion of other elements, all of which was carried out over the summer. Once the final conclusions of the access and transport work had been confirmed a further round of public consultation could be held, which would include workshop events on flood issues and transport and movement that was targeted for November 2018. The outline planning application was targeted for submission, subject to an agreement in principle on the access strategy for the site with the Highways Authority, at the end of January 2019.

The report provided information relating to the Homes England Local Authority Accelerated Construction Programme at paragraphs 8.1 to 8.6 and it was noted that an offer had been received by Homes England for the first phase of funding. This was would be used for infrastructure, particularly a roundabout to replace the current signalised junction at Skellingthorpe Road and Birchwood Avenue to open up the first phase of development consisting of approximately 155 new homes. Officers had been reviewing the offer letter received by Homes England and the conditions contained within it and had met with them on a couple of occasions to ensure clarity over a couple of points. The key deliverables they would be expecting in allocating this funding were noted as follows:

·         accelerated housing;

·         use modern methods of construction;

·         encourage use of local small and medium businesses in the development to support the local economy.

Councillor Ric Metcalfe was pleased to see a re-statement of the Council’s objectives in respect of the Western Growth Corridor scheme, with a commitment to creating jobs, housing and infrastructure. He emphasised that this development would be an important contribution to achievement of the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan and represented the largest urban extension included in the Local Plan. Councillor Metcalfe welcomed the fact that there was essentially a new development partner associated with the scheme, that there would now be some assistance with infrastructure costs with the potential for subsequent infrastructure funding and that progress had been made in respect of flood mitigation. He acknowledged, however, that there were still some challenges to face, highlighting that it was vitally important to get the traffic impact right for example. Councillor Metcalfe was pleased with the amount of progress that had been made which he said would set the Council up well with submission of a planning application in the New Year.

Councillor Nannestad asked whether officers were confident of the timescales as set out in paragraph 10 of the report being met in relation to phase one, in view of the fact that the money had to be spent by March 2021.

The Strategic Director of Major Developments, reported that work had been undertaken on the outline planning application for the overall development, however, this had encompassed detailed work on aspects of the first phase which included the Skellingthorpe junction and Tritton Road railway bridge. This meant that the procurement process for this phase of the development could commence as early as January 2019 with the works taking in the region of five months to complete. She was therefore confident that this would be delivered on time if the timescales set out in the report were adhered to.

Councillor Murray was very pleased to see this report, adding that the update on the scheme’s objectives would be welcome news regarding additional jobs and housing for the people of Lincoln.