Agenda item

To consider Report No. CD1802 (copy attached), which seeks authority to establish the ‘Regenerating Rushmoor’ programme to enable delivery of the Council’s regeneration ambitions.

The Cabinet considered Report No. CD1802, which sought authority to establish the Regenerating Rushmoor Programme to enable the delivery of the Council’s regeneration plans.

The Report set out proposed Council and partnership governance arrangements and requested delegations to enable key projects to move forward. The key regeneration sites were highlighted in the Report, along with proposed next steps to progress their delivery. It was reported that the Council process to select an investment partner had received a good level of interest and that three prospective partners would be invited to attend the Council for the next stage of the selection process.

The Cabinet also considered the matters in the Exempt Appendix 2 of the Report. During this discussion, the public were excluded from the meeting to avoid the disclosure of exempt information within Paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972 (information relating to financial or business affairs).

The Cabinet RESOLVED that

(i)           the establishment of the Regenerating Rushmoor programme and the outline governance arrangements, as set out in Report No. CD1802, be approved;

(ii)          the projects included with the programme and their current status be noted;

(iii)         a recommendation to the Policy and Projects Advisory Board to establish task and finish groups for Aldershot Regeneration and Farnborough Regeneration and the appointment of the Leader, the Deputy Leader and the Major Projects and Property Portfolio Holder to the Steering Group be approved;

(iv)         a further period of working with officers from RegenCo (East Hampshire District Council) to help deliver the programme until the Council’s proposed resources or other interim arrangements are in place, as set out in Report No. CEX1802, be approved;

(v)          the transfer to the current Legal Services Manager from 1st June, 2018 and, subsequently, to the new role of Corporate Manager Legal Services once appointed, of all existing delegations to the Solicitor to the Council in relation to legal activities and future legal transactions ancillary and pursuant to the delivery of the Regeneration Programme be approved;

(vi)         the Executive Director, in consultation with the Chief Executive and the Major Projects and Property Portfolio Holder, be authorised to agree the approach and negotiate and acquire by agreement the properties set out in Exempt Appendix 2 to the Report and the potential need for a future variation to the Capital Programme to enable the completion of all acquisitions be noted;

(vii)       the risk for expenditure borne by the Council, as set out in Exempt Appendix 2 to the Report, be noted and the use of prudential borrowing, until the Housing Investment Fund conditions are satisfied and funding released by Homes England, be approved;

(viii)      the Executive Director be authorised to negotiate an extension to the Civic Quarter Memorandum of Understanding with the existing partners;

(ix)         the Executive Director be authorised to vire the revenue budgets, as set out in paragraph 6.1 of the Report; and

(x)          the change in use of the Capital Budget for pre-development works, as set out in paragraph 6.3 of the Report, be approved.