Agenda item

To consider the report of the Director of City Development following a request for Scrutiny made by the Executive Board as follows:

Draft Executive Board Minute, Item 101, 21 November 2018.

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the proposals detailed within the submitted report be referred to the next available meeting of the relevant Scrutiny Board for consideration;

(b)  That should the Scrutiny Board be supportive of the proposals detailed within the submitted report, then the following be agreed:-

(i)  That the interest in Otley Civic Centre and the options available to the Council relating to the future of the property, be noted;

(ii)  That the disposal of Otley Civic Centre on the terms as recommended in exempt appendix 1 to the submitted report, be approved; and that the approval of any variation to the final terms be delegated to the Director of City Development in consultation with the Executive Members for Regeneration, Transport and Planning;

(iii)  That the Otley Courthouse emerging expansion proposals be noted; that agreement be given for part of the Council’s North Parade Depot to be reserved for the expansion of the Courthouse; and that the necessary authority be delegated to the Director of City Development, to enable the Director to enter into negotiations with the Courthouse in order to agree appropriate terms, which will include public access;

OR

(c)  That should the Scrutiny Board not be supportive of the proposals detailed within the submitted report, then the matter be re-submitted to Executive Board together with the Scrutiny Board’s observations, as part of an updated report for Member’s consideration.

Cllr. Flynn attended as a substitute for Cllr. Wadsworth for item 8.

Members were reminded that the item contained confidential information under Access to Information Procedure Rules 10.4(3). At the start of the meeting a resolution had been taken that the meeting would go into private session if Members needed to discuss information set out on the pink pages of the agenda pack.

The report of the Director of City Development provided Members of Scrutiny Board with detailed background information and recent history relating to Otley Civic Centre which informed the recommendations to Executive Board on 21^st November 2018 that the property be sold.

In attendance at the meeting were:

-  Martin Farrington – Director of City Development

-  Edward Rowland - Principal Land ? Property Officer

-  Angela Barnicle - Chief Officer Asset Mgt ? Regeneration

-  Cllr Richard Lewis – Executive Board Member

-  Cllr Sandy Lay – Councillor Otley and Yeadon

-  Cllr Ryk Downes – Councillor Otley and Yeadon

-  David Robson – Trustee, Otley Courthouse

Cllr. Maqsood vacated the meeting at 13:15.

The Director of City Development introduced the report informing Members of the following points:

·  Otley Civic Centre was a listed building which covered approximately 15,500sq feet;

·  The building had housed the Town Council until it was closed in 2010 due to concerns in relations to fire safety measures;

·  In 2011 the building required £2.77m of investment, however, given inflation indices the building would now require approximately £3.8m;

·  Work had been undertaken to seek expressions of interest from a variety of parties to take on the use of the building;

·  Assistance from the Heritage Lottery had been considered, this had not progressed due to lack of a business case;

·  Mandale Homes had expressed interest in development of the building for apartments including 9 or 10 affordable homes;

·  It was recognised that there was a desire for more community use within Otley;

·  The Courthouse already hosts events for the arts and has done for 14 years.

·  The Courthouse wished to expand and has been offered a portion of land at North Parade.

Supplementary information had been received which included a submission from Cllr. Campbell who had not been able to attend and responses of consultation undertaken.

Ward Councillors Ryk Downes and Sandy Lay and David Robson, Trustee of Otley Courthouse provided the Scrutiny Board with the following information:

·  11 People had responded to the consultation exercise. However ward councillors were of the opinion that this was not representative of how the Town was feeling in respect of the Civic Centre;

·  The Civic Centre housed a large meeting room with a capacity of 400 which would be lost to the community if the building was redeveloped prior to securing another large meeting place;

·  The streets around Otley already have a  number of cars parked on them and the proposal for flats in the Civic Centre has no designated parking spaces;

·  The ward councillors were of the view that the selling of the Civic Centre was premature given that no assurance had been provided that the Courthouse would expand onto the land at North Parade;

·  The community needed a focal point to hold larger meetings than were currently available at the Courthouse;

·  Otley would not have the capacity to run two venues, therefore the Courthouse would have sustainability problems if this were to happen;

·  Expansion hopes for the Courthouse had been ongoing for 5 to 6 years;

·  A larger meeting hall at the Courthouse would allow for more events to be hosted;

·  Meeting rooms at the Courthouse were booked in advance;

·  Ward Councillors believe that if the Civic Centre were to be sold the proceeds should be used wholly for the benefit of Otley, potentially to assist in developing the Courthouse proposals.  In response it was explained that current policy does not support this approach.

Cllr. Lewis explained to the Scrutiny Board that the building had not been used for about 10 years and had fallen into disrepair. He said that over the years he had attended a number of meetings to discuss the future of the building, unfortunately nobody had come forward with a sustainable proposal. He recognised that the choice of residential development was a sub-optimal solution. However it was the only solution that currently made sense.

The Ward Councillors said that they did not wish to stop the sale of the building only to delay it to ensure that Otley did not lose its community facilities of a large venue hall.

The Board discussed the following points;

·  The timing of the sale of the Civic Centre and the expansion of the Courthouse;

·  The relocation of the museum and development of Ashfield Works;

·  Use of Capital receipts;

·  Use of community groups to run community assets

The Board considered all evidence presented in the agenda and at the meeting.

At the conclusion of the discussions the recommendations were put to the vote.

RESOLVED – To: 

i)  Note the interest in Otley Civic Centre and the options available to the Council relating to the future of the property.

ii)  Support the Executive Boards decision to approve the disposal of Otley Civic Centre on the terms recommended in the accompanying confidential appendix, with delegated approval of any variation to the final terms to the Director of City Development in consultation with the Executive Members for Regeneration, Transport and Planning.

iii)  Note the Otley Courthouse emerging expansion proposals, and support the proposal that part of the Council’s North Parade Depot be reserved for the expansion of the Courthouse, and authorise the Director of City Development to enter into negotiations with the Courthouse to agree appropriate terms, which will include public access.

Cllr. Harrison left the meeting at 14:20 at the end of this item.