Agenda item

 Report by Dr Carlton Brand, Corporate Director.

Councillor Fleur de Rhé-Philipe presented the report which provided an update to the Committeeon the options beingexplored forfuture redevelopment of theEast Wingsite and sought approvalfor the proposed approachfor further work.

Issues highlighted in the course of the presentation and discussion included: what options had been explored on the sites; that Wiltshire Council was aware of the community’s wishes; the implications of the one public estate programme; and that further approvals may be required further into the project.

At the invitation of the Deputy Leader, the Rev Dearlove spoke about the desire of Breakthrough project in developing facilities in Rothermere House. He expressed concern that any proposals may lead to the demolition of the building.

In response, Councillor de Rhé-Philipe clarified that the impetus for purchasing the site was to secure the control of access for the wider site, and that there were no current plans to demolish the older part of the Rothermere House. She also instructed officers to liaise with Rev Dearlove to seek further information about his proposals and to keep him updated.

Councillor Steve Oldrieve emphasised the concerns of the Trowbridge Area Board expressed at its meeting on 10 November that it had not been appraised of the contents of the paper and that this had been communicated in a letter from Cllr Graham Payne, Chairman of the Area Board.

In response, the Deputy Leader explained that he  had appraised  the Area Board of the project proposals and progress when he attended the Area Board meeting in July. Furthermore, he considered that he had heeded the view from the Area Board, expressed to him at that time, to expedite the project without delay.  Councillor Fleur de Rhé-Philipe reminded the Committee that of course the report presented for this item was accessible by all members of the Council.

Dr Carlton Brand, Corporate Director clarified that he had offered to meet with Cllr Payne to brief him on the proposals and this offer was declined.

In response to further questions, Councillor Fleur de Rhé-Philipe stated that she did not think that any of the options, included in more detail in the part ii paper, were in conflict with the Trowbridge Masterplan which had been the subject of extensive proposals.

Resolved

(i)             To notes the work completed to date on exploring the redevelopment opportunities for the East Wing site.

(ii)           To approve the recommended approach for taking the work forward as set out in Table 1 and in the Next Steps section of this report (from paragraph 30).

(iii)         To delegate authority to the Associate Director People and Business in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Skills, Strategic Transport and Strategic Property, the Associate Director Economic Development and Associate Director Finance, to complete negotiations for the acquisition of Rothermere House in line with the approach set out in Appendix B of the part ii paper, and subject to acceptable financial terms.

(iv)         To delegate authority to the Associate Director Economic Development and Planning, in consultation with the Associate Director Finance and Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Skills, Strategic Transport and Strategic Property, to progress the project as detailed; to be brought back to Cabinet for key updates and decisions, as required.

Reason for Decision:

To provide an update on progress and seek Cabinet’s support for the recommended approach to progress work in relation to the redevelopment of the East Wing site.