Decision details

Council officers have delegated powers to transfer land for the purpose to an official statutory undertaker. The party acting in this instance are Last Mile Electricity Limited, they are not a formal statutory undertaker, but in this instance, they are adopting the Electrical Network. A freehold transfer or long lease requires a formal report to Strategy and Resources Committee for the transfer of the land.

The transferee is pressing for the legal completion of the transfer by the end of April at the latest to prevent a delay to the project, therefore the urgent nature of the works would be delayed further if the matter had to be presented to the next appropriate Committee on the 4 May 2021.

This provision forms part of the contract for the construction of the new leisure centre and any associated costs will form part of that contractual arrangements and associated budgets. The transferee has not provided an undertaking for the Councils costs. However, as this transfer is fundamental to the operation of the new leisure centre we do not intend to pursue costs in this instance.

Agreement to transfer an area of land, approximately 2m by 2m, adjacent an existing Western Power Distribution substation, adjacent Tarka Tennis car park, Seven Brethren.

The alternative to a freehold transfer is a long leasehold interest, but the applicant has requested a freehold transfer not a lease. The adjoining substation site has been transferred to WPD by way of the freehold. We could still transfer the site to WPD as a statutory undertaker and they could transact with Last Mil Electricity, the issue with this is interacting with third party and their willingness to be involved, which again is likely to cause further delay.