Issue - meetings

RECOMMENDED:    

1.    The Council will not proceed with housing on the bus station site in view of external factors affecting the viability of the scheme and the opportunity to pursue a viable alternative, and will remove the project from the Capital Programme;

2.    NCC will continue to proceed with the improved library / adult education facility (including the library, toilets, and changing places toilet) on the site enabled with the addition of land owned by the Borough which will include the provision of an area for West Norfolk tourism information (subject to further negotiation);

3.    NCC will proceed with the Bus Back Better Grant to improve coastal travel, cycle facilities and sustainability, invest to improve the bus station as a transport interchange and to agree terms with Borough Council for the land;

4.    The Borough Council, supported by Norfolk County Council, to negotiate with Homes England in respect of the ACP funding originally allocated to development of this site.

5.    The Borough Council will work with all parties on developing a joint strategic approach to regeneration and growth in the wider Hunstanton area through an agreed Masterplan;

6.    That the Assistant Director for Property and Projects, in consultation with the Portfolio Holders for Property and Finance, S151 officer and Monitoring Officer be given delegated authority to finalise the legal arrangements for the land.

Reasons for Decision

To deliver on the Council’s corporate objectives, in partnership with Norfolk County Council, to:

·         Protect and enhance the environment, including tackling climate change; delivering on the Council’s commitment to be carbon neutral by 2035; and

Create and maintain good quality places that make a difference to people’s lives.

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R Eacott, Interim Project Delivery and Technical Advisor  presented the report which explained that a planning application to build 47 apartments on land off Westgate, Hunstanton, with retail units, a new library and adult education facility, was approved in March 2021.

Work to develop this proposal, which would have provided a significant number of new homes for the town on a challenging site, was supported with a grant from Homes England. Around £800,000 was spent on this work, which was significantly less than the £1.5million that would be normal for a scheme of this size (figure based on 15% of a £10.4m scheme).

At the time that the planning application was submitted, Document B (Fire Safety) Volume 1, stipulated a height threshold of 30m before residential buildings required sprinklers. The proposed building would have been below this height. However, changes to Building Regulations (Approved Document B, Volume 11) were published in May 2020, taking effect from November 2020; the revised guidance stated that blocks of flats over 11m height should be provided with sprinklers. The top floor of the proposed unit was over 11m.

At the time, officers felt that it would be possible to proceed with the application and seek a way to resolve the sprinkler issue retrospectively.

However, a month after permission was granted, further regulatory changes – this time to fire standards – were announced.

This, combined with unforeseen rises in construction costs following the Covid-19 pandemic, and more recently forecast falling house prices, has had a material impact on the financial viability of this scheme, and to other Borough Council Major Housing Projects within the Capital Programme.

Officers had therefore been considering alternative options for the site. Matters of note have influenced that thinking:

1.    A Neighbourhood Plan for Hunstanton was adopted in June 2022. This plan identified the designation of the site in the Neighborhood Plan (Policy M3: Protection of Local Community Facilities).

2.    The County Council had indicated funding was available that could be used to support a plan to invest in an improved library / adult education facility (with toilets and a changing place facility), along with investment in an improved bus station and creating an Active Travel Hub.

3.    The impact of financial viability of the housing development on the overall Accelerated Construction Programme (ACP).

Having reached the conclusion that the site had become unviable for a variety of reasons as a location for housing, the availability of other government grant for transport, and NCC prepared to fund their own library and to invest in the site as an Active Travel Hub, officers instead recommended that the Council pursues this option.

Under standing order 34, Councillor de Whalley confirmed that Hunstanton was in need of investment and this would help to redress the balance.

Under standing order 34, Councillor Parish confirmed he was not against this proposal but suggested that Heacham library be funded by the County Council.

Under standing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 129