An update from Richard Walters, Head of Service, Major Projects.
Minutes:
Richard Walters, Head of Service, Major Projects, gave an update to the meeting on the Maltings. The main reason for the update was the proposed acquisition of the shopping centre.
As background the officer explained that the Council had existing land holdings in the Maltings such as central car park and the coach park. The aim was to regenerate the area. In 2019 a Master Plan was developed for the whole site. In 2020 the Central Area Framework was endorsed and this year the Salisbury River Park Master Plan had been endorsed.
The Council had previously sought to deliver regeneration in central car park and the Maltings site with a development partner. However due to adverse market conditions the development partner was unable to progress, even with government funding which had been secured. Other opportunities were explored with the current owners of the shopping centre, these were in turn impacted by Novichok and recent market headwinds, so the grant funding was repurposed towards the river park scheme. The Council owned the shopping centre free hold however it was felt that it would be beneficial to the regeneration for the shopping centre to be in single ownership which would give the Council more control over the regeneration. When it became apparent that the current owners were willing in principle to sell their interest, Cabinet and Full Council approval was gained to support land assembly in order to simplify ownership and allow flexible phased regeneration. Negations had been underway since that time and were complicated by the pandemic and the volatility of the market. A recent offer had been made for the site which encompassed the Maltings shopping centre including the Sainsburys site, Market Walk and the former British Heart Foundation site. The offer had not been accepted and the owners were talking to other parties. As a Council we could only support offers that were supported by commercial advice on the value. If a deal could be agreed this would be put to Cabinet for its approval.
A separate project was being taken forward to deliver the River Park project using the grant funding secured. Work was being undertaken on City Hall and the Cultural Quarter. A plan to bring forward regeneration on the Maltings and Central Car Park needed to be updated to take account of the land assembly position and market conditions. Any scheme developed would need to be based on policy and consulted on with stakeholders and the community.
In response to questions raised regarding the old British Heart Foundation site, it was explained that that land was still owned by the current owners of the shopping centre. It was understood that there was still an obligation between them and the hotel operator they had been working with and there was still an intention to pursue a hotel on the site. It was understood that the hotel operator had gone into a Company Voluntary Arrangement which may be affecting matters. Full contractual details were not known as that was between the hotel operator and the site owner. Wiltshire Councils influence was limited to the planning process. It was hoped that if a suitable deal could be brokered with the site owners so that site would be brought under Wiltshire Councils control.
Questions were asked regarding the unsightliness of the hoardings around the site and whether this could be made to look better. It was explained that this would be under control of the managing agents and it was suspected that these were in place to ensure site safety.
In response to further questions on the value offered for the site the officer stated that he could not go into details but felt we were putting forward a positive position. It was also explained that what happened next would be dependent on whether we could conclude a deal with the current site owners as this would make things much more certain to possible new development partners. However, we could also use the phased approach that had been originally planned with a development partner.
The Chairman thanked the officer for the update.