Agenda item

Report attached.

Members considered a report of Melissa Fisher - Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Housing and Regeneration, providing Cabinet with an update on the Huncoat Garden Village project.

The report also sought relevant delegations in respect of the acquisition of land and property to enable construction of the proposed residential relief road at Huncoat Garden Village and for delivery of the overall project following the Council entering into a Grant Funding Agreement with Homes England.

In addition, the report sought approval to start the process towards a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) should the Council fail to acquire the required land and property by agreement

Councillor Fisher provided a brief introduction to the report. 

Approval of the report was not deemed a key decision.

Reasons for Decision

Good progress continued to be made on the HGV project, including:

• The Council had entered into the Brownfield, Infrastructure and Land (BIL) grant funding agreement with Homes England on the 31^st of March 2025

• A full planning application for the proposed residential relief road had been submitted and subsequently validated on the 3^rd April 2025

• The Council had claimed and recovered historic costs on the project to date, amounting to £710,569.  This had been paid by Homes England on the 29^th May 2025

• The Council had entered into a s274 agreement with National Highways that would facilitate the transfer of £2.19m grant funding to National Highways towards improvement works at junction 8 on the M65.

• The Design Code for the project was being presented to this Cabinet meeting for approval.

• The new, draft Local Plan had been submitted to the Secretary of State for Independent Examination on Monday, 10^th March 2025.  The Planning Inspectorate had appointed a planning inspector to assess its soundness and compliance with legal requirements.  Public hearing sessions had been set to run over the last two weeks of September this year and a further week from the 7^th of October.

• The Council had selected a preferred contractor to construct the proposed residential relief road.  Stage 2 of the tender process had commenced which included progressing the road design to RIBA Stage 4, and the preferred contractor firming up its final tender price.

• The former power station site owner and their house builder partner had submitted an updated outline planning application for the site.

• The owners of the former colliery site continued to engage with several house builders.

The proposed new residential relief road route and construction area was shown red on the plan attached as Appendix 1 to the report.  None of the land was in Hyndburn Council’s ownership.  The Council had appointed Avison Young to assist with the acquisition strategy, including discussions and negotiations on behalf of the Council to acquire the land and property.  Up to now, the Council had led on, and held direct discussions with, the landowners potentially involved in the proposed road route.    Should the Council be unable to acquire the land by agreement it was proposed to use the most appropriate power to compulsorily acquire the land.  Should a CPO be required, the intention was to return to Cabinet later this year to seek authorisation to make a CPO. 

TerraQuesthad been appointed to provide Avison Young and the Council with specialist land referencing services and provide overall support for providing the appropriate CPO documents if required. 

Avison Young had prepared draft heads of terms (HoTs) in respect of the land and property the Council proposed to acquire to enable construction of the relief road.  At the time of writing the Council were about to appoint Pinsent Masons who would provide the Council with legal support.  Pinsent Masons would review and check the HoTs before they were issued to each of the interested parties. 

The authority to acquire land by agreement for the purposes of development was contained in section 227 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.  The Council had sought Counsel’s advice on the most appropriate statutory power to be exercised should a CPO be required.  Counsel concluded that the most appropriate power sat within section 226 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 because any land needed to be compulsorily acquired for the road would facilitate the development of the Garden Village, and therefore the proposed road “will facilitate the carrying out of development, re-development, or improvement on or in relation to the land”.

Alternative Options considered and Reasons for Rejection

The Council could decide not to acquire the land required for the relief road.  This was not recommended because acquisition was essential to enable construction of the relief road and subsequent adoption of the same by Lancashire County Council.  Whilst every effort would be made to acquire the land by agreement, a CPO might be required as a last resort, especially if there were parcels of land in unknown ownership.

Resolved                                    -    That Cabinet:

(1)   Notes the progress being made with the Huncoat Garden Village (HGV) project.

(2)   Having concluded that the acquisition of land and property will facilitate the development of the proposed residential relief road for the Huncoat Garden Village project and that the project is likely to contribute to the achievement of any one or more of the following objectives:

(a)   the promotion or improvement of the economic well-being of the area;

(b)   the promotion or improvement of the social well-being of the area;

(c)   the promotion or improvement of the environmental well-being of the area,

resolves to delegate authority to the Head of Regeneration and Housing, following consultation with the Executive Director (Legal & Democratic Services) to negotiate and agree the terms of any necessary acquisitions and to enter into such agreements or deeds necessary for the acquisition of all or part of the land and property required to enable the development of the proposed Huncoat relief road.  The statutory authority for the acquisition being pursuant to S.227 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

(3)   Authorises the Head of Regeneration and Housing to begin preparatory work to secure information as to interests in the land and property within the proposed relief road red line boundary (identified at Appendix 1 of the report) to assist with the acquisition strategy including title referencing, serving requisitions on land and property owners and the appointment of land referencing agents preliminary to the investigation of powers of compulsory purchase of land and property.

(4)   Having agreed to enter into a grant funding agreement with Homes England for £29,897,722 for the HGV project, approves expenditure of the Brownfield, Infrastructure and Land fund (BIL) grant and grants delegated authority to the Head of Regeneration and Housing to take all reasonable steps to deliver the HGV project including (but not limited to):

(a)   Procuring works, goods and services, including approval of expenditure and variations (and to determine delivery mechanisms for different elements of the project); and

(b)   Following consultation with the Portfolio Holder and the Executive Director (Legal & Democratic Services) to agree the terms of the agreements appointing the preferred consultants or contractors; and

(c)   Obtaining all necessary permissions and consents, whether statutory or otherwise; and

(d)   Agreeing and finalising terms for the acquisition and disposal of any land or property in connection with delivery of the HGV project, together with the terms of any necessary licenses, access agreements or easements; and

(e)   Agreeing and finalising the terms of agreements with landowners in respect of the proposed brownfield land remediation works, proposed equalisation arrangements and any other matters associated with delivery of the HGV project and / or compliance with the requirements of the BIL grant funding agreement

(f)    Agreeing and finalising terms with Lancashire County Council and / or National Highways in respect of highway adoption or highway improvement works

(g)   In consultation with the Executive Director (Legal and Democratic Services) entering into legal agreements in respect of the above

(5)   That such delegations to the Head of Regeneration and Housing set out above, are limited to amounts within the HGV BIL grant funding agreement, noting that any request for additional funding from the Council will require Cabinet approval.