Agenda item

Report attached.

The Cabinet considered a report of Councillor Kath Pratt, Portfolio Holder for Housing and Regeneration, seeking approval to the sale of land south of Dale Street and land north of Dale Street, Accrington, BB5 0AL.

Councillor Pratt provided a brief introduction to the report, highlighting the open space land available for disposal and the proposal to accept the second highest offer of £120k, which was deemed to represent market value.

Councillors Steven Smithson and Mohamned Younis spoke in favour of this proposal and referred to the anticipated eradication of blight caused by fly-tipping at this site and meeting the demand for additional housing in this ward in conjunction with other plots of land released, including land at Charter Street and land adjacent to Hyndburn Road.

Councillor Munsif Dad BEM JP enquired about a plot of land off Blackburn Road, Accrington, believed to be leased to a church.  Mr Hoyle agreed to look into this matter and to provide written reply.

Approval of the report was not considered to be a key decision.

Reasons for Decision

Plots of vacant land south of Dale Street and north of Dale Street had prompted interest from local developers requesting to purchase them for redevelopment subject to compliance with planning requirements.

In December 2022, the two sites had been advertised for sale on the Council’s website seeking offers on an informal tender basis.  Three offers for the combined sites had been received, these were:

1.      £17,000

2.      £120,000

3.      £200,000

The highest offer of £200,000 had been rejected as this offer was conditional on the inclusion of other plots of land elsewhere in the Borough.  The combined offer was significantly below market value and as such was considered unacceptable.

The 2^nd highest offer of £120,000 comprised £100,000 for the land south of Dale Street and £20,000 for the land north of Dale Street, with both the individual and combined offers deemed market value.

Both plots were public open space and, therefore, the Council had followed the requirements of Section 123 (2A) of the Local Government Act 1972, by advertising its intention to sell the land on 13^th January and 20^th January 2023.  No objections had been received.

Alternative Options considered and Reasons for Rejection

The Council could choose not to accept the offer and not dispose of the land but this could mean forgoing an opportunity for development of the site, which had been vacant for many years and was a focus for fly-tipping.

The sites could be remarketed to see if an increased offer would be made.  This should be rejected, as they had been advertised for sale, which had tested the value in the open market and the preferred offer for each site was deemed market value.  Recent offers fell well below this offer

Resolved                                               -     That Cabinet:

(1)    Approves the disposal of the two plots of open space land at Dale Street, Accrington, BB5 0AL, shown edged red on the plans attached to the report

(2)    Delegates authority to the Head of Regeneration and Housing in consultation with the Director of Legal and Democratic Services to finalise the terms and conditions of the proposed disposal.