Issue - meetings

To consider a report from the Cabinet Member for Corporate and Democratic Services and the Director of Infrastructure and either endorse or make a recommendation on the proposed decision set out in the report.

1.            Mrs Spore and Mr Reidy introduced the report and explained how it related to the earlier Cabinet Member decision to enter into a first funding agreement with the John Wallis Academy for the construction of a new primary school building, this being the second funding agreement. They responded to questions of detail from the Sub-Committee, including the need to be creative to enable best use of the land available while ensuring that the County Council achieved best value for public money, the phased payment of funding in response to agreed milestones in the development, and the fact that the proposals had yet to be tested by the planning process.    

2.            The local Member, Mr D Farrell, placed on record his concerns about the loss of open space in the area, which would be further exacerbated by this proposal, and the effect of this loss upon the local community. While he welcomed the investment in local education facilities, open sites in the area had been either fenced off or built on and were no longer available for local people to use for recreational purposes without paying a hire fee, which could be prohibitive to local families.

3.            It was RESOLVED that the decision proposed to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Corporate and Democratic Services, to authorise the Director of Infrastructure, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Corporate and Democratic Services:

a)    to finalise terms and enter into a second funding agreement and other associated documentation with the John Wallis Church of England Academy, subject to the conditions set out in paragraph 3.3 of the exempt recommendation report;

b)    to enter into the necessary lease arrangements to facilitate the relocation of the Ray Allen Centre and the proposed transactions; and

c)    to progress the disposal of surplus land arising from the proposal, bringing the heads of terms back at the appropriate time for a further decision,

be endorsed by the majority of the Sub-Committee, with Mr D Farrell and Mr R H Bird taking no part.