Report by Property Manager (attached)

The Committee considered a report by the Property Manager (circulated previously) regarding Site at South View, Bratton Fleming.

Councillor Lane declared a non-registrable interest in this item as he knew the owner of the site but, following consultation with the Senior Solicitor and Monitoring Officer, he made it clear that this was not a close association and that he therefore did not consider that this interest clouded his judgement.

The Property Manager highlighted the following:

·         This report related to a site disposed of by the Council as a surplus asset in October 2014.

·         The subject site was a small garden plot adjacent to an area of open space still owned by the Council.

·         The site was subject to an overage provision for an uplift in value once developed.

·         There was now a four bedroomed house, partially completed on the site.

·         A report was presented to Strategy and Resources Committee in June 2023 with regard to the overage provisions on the site and vehicular access and parking.

·         Members resolved at the June 2023 Committee that the current owner pay £5,000 to release the overage and a sum of £50,000 for the right to create a vehicular access and parking to the property.  This being by granting a right of way, the route of which was at the discretion of Council Officers, as seen in Appendix A of the report.

·         Following that decision, the site owner reverted back to the Property Manager requesting an additional area for parking be agreed in order for them to be able to dispose of the four bedroomed property begin built on this site.

·         The site owner increased their offer of £50,000 for the access rights to £55,000, with the £5,000 to conclude the overage provision, bringing this to a total of £60,000, on the basis of the following:

Ø  Freehold title to land hatched blue on the attached plan (as seen in Appendix A of the report) be included for the provision of parking, this was still in Council ownership.

Ø  A right of way for both pedestrians and vehicles over the land to the south of the blue hatched land marked out as a driveway.

Ø  The right to undertake works on Council retained land to form the gravel driveway at the site owner’s expense and thereafter maintain it into perpetuity as an ongoing responsibility to future owners, as indicated on the attached plan (Appendix A of this report).

Ø  The Council agree to the right to bring services into the property as indicated on the plan, and thereafter maintain and use; and

Ø  The works to set out the retained parking spaces to be carried out by the site owner at their expense as set out in the attached drawing, as seen on the site plan at 4.8 of the report.

In response to a question about what overage was.  The Property Manager explained that overage or claw back referred to an agreement that was placed as a means of gaining a share of the uplift in value from the future development of a site.  

RESOLVED that the payment of £60,000 be approved to release the overage and grant a right to create a vehicular access to the subject property with an additional defined area of the Council’s adjacent site for parking (as can be seen at section 4.8 of the report).