To approve the approach to council-owned property and land disposals in support of the development of a university for Herefordshire.

The director of economy, communities and corporate presented a report to approve the approach to council-owned property and land disposals in support of the development of a university for Herefordshire.

The Cabinet member, infrastructure, said that the scheme had received universal support across all parties and with all members.  He pointed out that whilst there would be a great deal of change over the lifetime of this project, this was a good initial step which identified the process to help the

During the ensuing the debate the following points were made:

In reply to a question from a Group Leader, the Leader said that the process had taken two years because there was a Green Book requirement to provide a business case in order to get the project underway, and that, with help from council officers, this case was now in place.

The regenerations programme manager stated that it would not be possible for a building on the Gaol street car park site to be built on stilts, as the car park was within the curtilage of the City Walls, and part of a heritage site.  Any building could not be higher than three stories, and such a move would render the building insufficient for the needs of the university.

·      That there would be a clause on any capital sale in order to ensure that the council benefited from an uplift in the value of a given site. Values quoted in the report were indicative, and that full market value for sales of sites would be ensured at the time of sale.

·      That as it would not be possible to find one building of sufficient size within the city for the university, they had requested that a number of buildings be utilised for different departments.  This would have the added advantage of ensuring that there was an economic benefit to the city, as students would not be focused in one area.

It was noted that the acquisition of Franklin house had been fully funded by Advantage West Midlands, and no council monies had been used in the purchase.

·      That the promises for funding that had been made by Government departments for the university were being actively pursued now that there was a new administration in place.

Resolved

That:

(a)         approval be given for one or more of the sites identified in the report, to be sold or leased to the Herefordshire Tertiary Education Trust (HTET) subject to achieving market value;

(b)         authority be delegated to the director of economy, communities and corporate, to take all operational decisions necessary, following consultation with the section 151 officer and relevant Cabinet members, to implement the above recommendation, and,

(c)         authority be delegated to the cabinet member contracts and assets, following consultation with relevant cabinet members, to determine disposal to HTET of any additional sites on similar terms.