Agenda and minutes

None.

The minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 29 January 2007 were signed by the Chair.

RESOLVED:(1) That Mr N Duffy be granted leave to address the Cabinet in respect of item 8 “Grosvenor Greyfriars Progress”.

                        (2) That Mr C Grethe be granted leave to address the Cabinet in respect of item 6 “Clean Neighourhoods and Environment Act 2005”.

                        (3) That Councillor Roy be granted leave to address the Cabinet in respect of item 9 “Dallington Grange: Progress of Potential Agreement”.

Councillor Larratt declared an interest in item 8 “Grosvenor Greyfriars Progress” and item 9 “Dallington Grange Progress of Potential Agreement” as a Board Member of the WNDC which he regarded as being personal and prejudicial and left the meeting during consideration of them.

None.

None.

Report of Corporate Manager, Development and Building Control and Environmental Health (copy herewith)

Mr Grethe commented that it was good to have a clean environment and hoped that there would be exemptions for Guide dogs.

Councillor Flavell submitted a report that advised the Cabinet on changes in legislation in relation to the control of dogs and proposed the adoption of Dog Control Orders.  She commented that the Regulations provided exemptions for Guide dogs and support dogs.  It was noted that the Schedule contained in the report set out the land to be designated under the Dogs (Fouling of Land) Act 1996.

RESOLVED:That approval be given in principle to the making of the following Dog Control Orders:

(A) A Fouling of Land by Dogs Order in respect of all land within the Borough which is open to the air and to which the public have right of access with or without payment.

(B) A Dogs on Leads Order in respect of cemeteries, nature reserves, conservation areas, ecology areas and areas from which dogs are presently prohibited unless on a lead under the Parks Byelaws.

(C) A Dogs on Leads Direction Order in respect of the same areas as in (B) above.

(D) A Dogs Exclusion Order in respect of children’s playgrounds, fenced off sporting areas, memorial sites and other areas of special sensitivity.

(E) The number of dogs that a person may take on land is limited to six.

THE CHAIR TO MOVE:

“THAT THE PUBLIC AND PRESS BE EXCLUDED FROM THE REMAINDER OF THE MEETING ON THE GROUNDS THAT THERE IS LIKELY TO BE DISCLOSURE TO THEM OF SUCH CATEGORIES OF EXEMPT INFORMATION AS DEFINED BY SECTION 100(1) OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1972 AS LISTED AGAINST SUCH ITEMS OF BUSINESS BY REFERENCE TO THE APPROPRIATE PARAGRAPH OF SCHEDULE 12A TO SUCH ACT.”

The Chair moved that the public and Press be excluded from the remainder of the meeting on the grounds that there was likely to be disclosure to them of such categories of exempt information as defined by Section 100(1) of the Local Government Act 1972 as listed against such items of business by reference to the appropriate paragraph of Schedule 12A to such Act.

The Motion was Carried.

Report of Corporate Manager, Regeneration, Growth and Community Development (copy to follow)

Councillor Caswell submitted a report that updated the position in respect of the Grosvenor Greyfriars Regeneration Project since the last report on 19 December 2006.

Mr N Duffy on behalf of E C Harris Consultants commented that a collaboration agreement had been signed with Legal and General on 19 December 2006 and since then weekly meetings had been held with them to work towards agreeing Heads of Terms for an Agreement.  He also commented that a number of meetings had been held with English Partnerships in respect of the relocation of Stagecoach from the Bus Station and that meetings had been held with the County Council and the Town Centre Manager.

The Director People Planning and Regeneration drew attention to the need for further financial resources to progress the project towards a Conditional Development Agreement and for the Corporate Manager Regeneration Growth and Community Development and himself to prioritise this work above other priorities so as to be able to meet the tight timetable agreed by Cabinet on 19 December 2006.

The Solicitor to the Council commented that a future report would formally seek agreement of the Cabinet to the adoption of Compulsory Purchase Order powers which would only be used if negotiations were failing with a developer.

RESOLVED:(1) That the progress and actions to date be noted and that agreement be given in principle to the use of Compulsory Purchase powers in appropriate circumstances.

                        (2) That support be given to the continuance of the strategy for the progression of the project agreed by Cabinet on 19 December 2006.

                        (3) That approval be given to an additional £40,000 required on an interim basis to progress the project towards a Conditional Development Agreement up to 5 March 2007 situation to be further reported upon at the Cabinet meeting on that date.

Report of Asset Manager (copy herewith)

Councillor Hadland submitted a report that set out the need to dispose of an area of public open space and an area of disused allotment land and set out the process for so doing.

The Asset Manager commented that discussions had been continuing via the Councillors’ advisors with the other landowners and commented that a further report would be submitted to the Cabinet on Heads of Terms.  He briefly commented on the statutory procedures required to dispose of public open space and disused allotment land.  It was noted that the Northampton Allotment Network had informally indicated that they had no objection to the disposal of the disused allotment land.  They would be formally consulted prior to the consent of the Secretary of State being sought.

Councillor Roy commented that Dallington Grange was a significant feature of the Council’s regeneration programme.  The public had concerns as to the nature of the development and she queried whether the majority of information contained in the report could have in fact been made public.  This would help to make the situation more transparent to the public.  She also queried what consideration had been given to reinvestment of any capital receipt into the Spencer estate.  She commented there was a danger that the project would not link to the Neighbourhood Management Strategy and asked whether the Neighbourhood Management Board could be a consultee to the disposal of the land.

The Director for People Planning and Regeneration commented that in future as much as possible would be made public.

Councillor Hadland agreed that the Neighbourhood Management Board should be included as a consultee in these disposals.

RESOLVED:(1) That the continuing progress of discussions with adjoining landowners and option holders including Heads of Terms for a conditional sale be noted.

                        (2) That approval be given to the formal advertisement for disposal of an area of public open space that is contained within the Dallington Grange land area that is being considered for disposal in accordance with the requirements of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), the open space concerned being shown edged red on plan one of the report.

                        (3) That approval be given to the seeking of the consent of the Secretary of State to the disposal of an area of disused allotment land that is similarly contained within the wider Dallington Grange land area in accordance with the requirements of the Allotments Act 1935 (as amended) the allotment land concerned being shown on plan two of the report.

Report of Asset Manager (copy herewith)

The Asset Manager submitted a report that set out a proposal for the joint disposal of Council and County Council land to achieve greater overall value at Wheatfield Road South.

RESOLVED:(1) That approval in principle be given to the disposal of two parcels of land including a small vacant terrace of dilapidated industrial units and being in total approximately 1,409m² located in Wheatfield Road South (as shown edged red on the plan at Appendix 1 to the report) to produce an estimated gross capital receipt of £297,000.

                        (2) Approval to the disposal and marketing of this land in conjunction with the adjoining land and by Northamptonshire County Council 1,186m²) (identified edged blue on the plan shown at Appendix 1 to the report), the disposal to be undertaken in a manner to be determined by the Asset Manager and Solicitor to the Council with costs of Surveyors and Legal Services being shared by both Councils.

Item Withdrawn

Item withdrawn.