Executive Meeting: 6 October 2015

LAND IN BRINNINGTON,

Report of the Corporate Director for Corporate and Support Services and Corporate Director for Place Management & Regeneration

1. INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE OF REPORT

1.1. To confirm as surplus to requirements areas of land including that are currently used as Public Open Space.

1.2. To consider any representations received following the publication of an intention to dispose of an area of Public Open Space for development.

1.3. To approve the appropriation of land to planning purposes pursuant to S.122 (2A) of the Local Government Act 1972.

1.4. To reaffirm the intention of the Executive of the 2 April 2013 to the disposal of land to Countryside Properties.

2. BACKGROUND

2.1. This report concerns land in Brinnington which is the subject of regeneration proposals under the Brinnington Master Plan which was approved by the Executive at its meeting on 14 March 2011. The plots of land in question are shown in the plans enclosed with this report and are summarised as follows:

Site A: Land at Blackberry Lane, Brinnington This site comprises 1.9 hectares (4.7 acres) of open space which currently forms part of Vale Country Park and is within the Green Belt.

Site B: Former Castle Hill School and Lapwing Life Leisure, Brinnington This site comprises 1.6 hectares (4.1 acres) and is currently occupied by the vacant buildings remaining in situ after Castle Hill School was relocated to a new site in Offerton in July 2014. In addition, part of the site is also occupied by the Lapwing Life Leisure sports facility. This site lies within the Green Belt.

Site C: Lapwing Playing Fields, Brinnington This site comprises 2.9 hectares (7.2 acres) and is open space. This site also lies within the Green Belt.

Site D: Lapwing Lane, Brinnington This site comprises 0.29 hectares (0.72 acres) and is partly previously developed land and open space.

Site E: Former Tame Valley Primary School Playing Fields This site comprises 0.66 hectares (1.63 acres) and is open space which was formerly the playing fields associated with the former Tame Valley Primary School, the footprint of which has since been developed for housing. This site lies within the Green Belt.

Site F: Truro Avenue This site comprises 0.22 hectares (0.55 acres) and is previously developed land having been occupied by a council depot in the past. This site was previously supported for disposal at Central Area Committee on 30 August 2012.

2.2. At is meeting on 2 April 2013, the Executive received and approved a report which recommended the appointment of Countryside Properties as preferred developer to bring forward the housing sites above which were identified during the master planning process. The report included details of the financial offer from Countryside Properties which includes a capital receipt, overage and receipts from a shared equity sale model to a minimum value. This report therefore firmly established the principle of the disposal of the sites described in paragraph 2.1 above for regeneration purposes. The development of these sites, along with the construction of a new leisure centre in Brinnington which also forms part of the regeneration proposals, will constitute circa £40m worth of investment in the area.

2.3. Since that time, Countryside Properties have been working with officers on their development proposals and this work culminated in the approval of planning applications for 280 new family houses and a new leisure centre in Brinnington by the Planning and Highways Regulation Committee at its meeting on 8 January 2015. These applications were referred to the Secretary of State for consideration as some of the sites involved the development of land which lies within the Green Belt. The Secretary of State subsequently confirmed he did not wish to call in the application, leaving the decision with the Local Planning Authority.

2.4. This work has also involved the drawing up of a Development Agreement between the Council and Countryside Properties which will include a programme of development for the new housing. This notes the fact that the existing leisure facility at Lapwing Life Leisure (Site B) cannot be closed until the proposed new facility to be constructed in Brinnington Park, is operational. This means Site B will not be released to the developer until the new leisure facility has been opened.

2.5. Both sites C and E include former school playing fields. Class consent has been sought and gained to dispose of these school playing fields from the Education Funding Agency under section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.

2.6. As mentioned above, sites A and C are open space and it is proposed that this land be disposed of. In an open space context site C includes the Multi Use Games Area associated with the Lapwing Life Leisure centre.

2.7. It is also proposed to dispose of Site B. As stated above, this disposal is caveated by the need to ensure that the proposed new leisure facility is operational.

2.8. Consideration is currently being given to land ownership issues with respect to the open space land within Site E and the capacity of the Council to dispose of the open space. This site is currently owned by Stockport Homes Ltd and in partnership with them the matter is being addressed under the Development Agreement which will require them to transfer the land to Countryside Properties in due course.

2.9. It is also proposed as a precautionary measure that all the land required for development i.e. Sites A, B, C, D, E and F, is appropriated to planning purposes in order to override any existing encumbrances affecting the land such as easements rights and restrictions (other than rights belonging to public utilities) that might otherwise fetter or frustrate the proper development of the land.

2.10. It should be noted that it is not proposed to dispose of Sites D and F to Countryside Properties as these will be retained and developed out on behalf of Stockport Homes Ltd by Countryside Properties with transfer to Stockport Homes Ltd at an appropriate time.

2.11. Members should also be aware that, in order to bring Site A, Blackberry Lane, forward for development, it has been necessary for the developer to apply for an Order to divert a registered footpath which traverses the site and the line of which needs to be altered slightly to accommodate the desired form of development. This has been the subject of a separate process and was reported to Central Stockport Area Committee on 16 April 2015. The Committee resolved to authorise the making of a diversion Order for the diversion of the public footpath. In line with the relevant legislation, a statutory consultation was undertaken and a limited number of objections were received. Officers have subsequently addressed concerns raised by all the objectors, who have now withdrawn their objections. The Council is now in the process of confirming the Order to divert the footpath in question.

3. STATUTORY CONSULTATION

3.1. In line with legislative requirements, the Council’s intent to dispose of open space and appropriate land for planning purposes in Brinnington was advertised in two consecutive editions of the Stockport Express on 4 and 11 March 2015.

3.2. The expiry date for objections to the declared intention to dispose of open space land and to appropriate land to planning purposes to facilitate the proposed Brinnington development was 25 March 2015.

3.3. A total of 213 objections have been received. A summary and analysis of the objections is contained within Appendix A.

3.4. Officer Comment:

3.5. As Members are aware, the Brinnington Regeneration Plan is a long standing strategy which was adopted as Council policy by the Executive Committee in March 2011.

3.6. The regeneration strategy for Brinnington is based on extensive master planning work and public consultation undertaken during 2009. This work involved a holistic approach taking account of the broad spectrum of issues affecting Brinnington which is one of the most deprived areas of the Borough. The master planning exercise highlighted a series of issues and recommended actions to tackle them; these included a lack of housing choice both in terms of tenure and type, resulting in significant population churn, and a low standard of leisure and sports provision.

3.7. The regeneration strategy identified a need to build new housing in Brinnington which will be attractive to economically active households and after considering all available opportunities, put forward several potential housing sites across Brinnington some of which have since been successfully developed for shared ownership family housing by Stockport Homes Ltd. The remaining sites were considered by the Council’s Executive in April 2013 and it was agreed that a preferred developer (Countryside Properties) should be appointed to assist the Council in the implementation of the housing element of the regeneration strategy by working up and submitting planning applications for these sites. Whilst four of these sites lie within the Green Belt, and one is within the boundaries of Country Park, there are no suitable alternative sites within the urban area of Brinnington and it is crucial to the regeneration strategy that a critical mass of new family housing is built in Brinnington.

3.8. The main thrust of the objections concern the sale of the land for the purposes of residential development as some of the land lies within the Green Belt and the land off Blackberry lane also lies within Reddish Vale Country Park. The principle of the development of the land in question for residential purposes proposed on the land in question was discussed extensively in a substantive planning application report considered by the Planning and Highways Regulation Committee at its meeting on 8 January 2015. The Committee resolved to approve the planning application ref: DC/056554 subject to referral to the Secretary of State because some of the land lies within the Green Belt. Since then, the Secretary of State has confirmed that he did not wish to call in the application and therefore the decision can be made by the Local Planning Authority.

3.9. An application for Judicial Review was received after the Secretary of State confirmed he did not wish to call in the planning application. The case for Judicial Review was heard by the High Court on 28 July 2015 where the judge ruled in favour of the Council, including awarding costs, and refused to grant permission for the Judicial Review.

4. FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS

4.1. The subject sites form part of a wider master plan aimed at the regeneration of Brinnington as outlined in previous reports to the Executive on 14 March 2011 and 2 April 2013 and referred to above. Sites A, B, C and E are subject of a financial offer to the Council made up of a capital receipt, overage and equity share.

5. RECOMMENDATIONS

Following consideration of the proposals by the Corporate, Resource Management and Governance Scrutiny Committee at its meeting on 22 September 2015, the Executive is recommended to approve the following:

5.1. That the Executive notes and has regard to the representations received and summarised in Appendix A relating to the intention to dispose of parcels of open space for development;

5.2. That the land identified in sites A and C be declared surplus to requirements for community use; 5.3. That the land identified in sites A, B, C, D, E and F be appropriated to planning purposes pursuant to S.122 (2A) of the Local Government Act 1972;

5.4. That the Executive reaffirms its intention of the 2 April 2013 and agrees to dispose of the land shown in sites A, B, C and E to Countryside Properties and sites D and F to Stockport Homes Ltd for the purpose set out in the report, subject to 5.5;

5.5. That the Executive agrees to the disposal of the open space land within Site E, subject to the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration being satisfied that the Council has the capacity to dispose of and appropriate to planning purposes the open space land.

5.6. That the Executive agrees to the inclusion of Stockport Homes Limited in the partnership Development Agreement with Countryside Properties Limited for the disposal and development of land at Brinnington.

BACKGROUND PAPERS

There are none.

Anyone wishing to inspect the above background papers or requiring further information should contact Murray Carr, Andy Kippax on Tel: 0161-474-3019, Tel: 0161 474 4319 or by email on [email protected], [email protected]