Report No. 234/2018

Report No. 234/201 was received from the Chief Executive.

Mr Oliver Hemsley, Leader of the Council, introduced the report, the purpose of which was for Cabinet to review the evolving Master Plan for the St George’s Site and the associated HIF Business Case and assess whether it should be recommended to Council for approval.

During discussion the following points were noted:

·         Rutland was growing and needed to continue to grow and prosper.

·         Comprehensive consultation had taken place to make sure that the plan was sound and that it would retain the unique nature of our villages

·         In order to avoid retrofitting infrastructure, investment in infrastructure would be made right from the beginning.

·         The bid would enable £95 million of funding for infrastructure the benefits of which would be seen right across the County.

·         The bid submission did not commit the Council to anything further.

·         In a response to comments submitted in writing by Ms G Waller, Ward Member for Normanton which included the villages of Edith Weston and North Luffenham, Mr R Stone, Head of Estates at the MoD confirmed that although compulsory purchases couldsometimes take longer than a year, 2.5 years had been allowed within the timeline and therefore delivery of the project would not be affected.

·         The level of financial detail would increase and improve as the project moved forward. An experienced development company would be brought onboard which would be able to supply more details on the design works and the viability assessment needed for a planning application.

·         The project’s inclusion in the Local Plan in the early part of 2019 would require a level of information in order to produce a detailed viability study.

·         The MoD would be happy to share with Cabinet information that they had had to date although some would be exempt to the public as it was commercially sensitive. Mrs H Briggs would liaise with the MoD regarding the provision of these papers.

·         The Head of Estates at the MoD reassured Councillors that they were already working closely with the design team to ensure that the project would deliver something much more akin to the layout of a Rutland village rather than another generic housing estate, especially as that was what would generate the value from the site.

·         If successful in its bid, funding from the Garden Communities Fund would allow the Council to set the standards for the development very early on in the process. As part of its submission, the Council requested funding to design an exemplar community in terms of health benefits and encouraging community engagement and had support from Lord Matthew Taylor, a housing policy expert on the design of garden villages.

·         An extra Council meeting would be scheduled in addition to Annual Council in May to hear the Regulation 19 Report. New members would be fully briefed on the matter.

·         The Masterplan included provision for a Health and Wellbeing Centre and consultation with GPs and the CCGs had already taken place. The HIF business case  ...  view the full minutes text for item 484