The Committee considered a report on the proposed disposal of public open space land at Talke Road, Alsager.
The Council was the freehold owner of the land which been included within the adopted Local Plan as a housing and employment site. The Council was authorised to dispose of any land that it owned but where land could be regarded as open space, as defined under s336(1) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the Council was required to advertise its intention to dispose of the land for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper circulating in the area in which the land was situated and then consider any objections received in response.
The disposal of the land had been advertised for two weeks in the local press in December 2021 and the objections/representations received were set out in appendices III and IV to the report.
The Committee had originally considered the disposal of the public open space land at its meeting on 31 May 2022 and had resolved that the decision be deferred to enable alternative potential uses of the land to be considered. An Addendum to the report had been provided which set out details of alternative uses of the land and responded to questions raised by the Committee at its meeting on 31 May 2022.
Councillor Rod Fletcher, a ward councillor for Alsager, addressed the Committee setting out the history and previous use of the land under consideration.
The Committee asked questions on several matters including the definition of public open space, the use of the adjacent land, future uses of the land and type of housing, previous lapsed planning applications on the land, cost of decontamination of land, sale value on the open market and if the recovering of clinker on the site had been considered.
As a few the questions related to financial information, details of which were contained within the confidential appendix to the report, it was proposed and seconded that the meeting move into Part 2 to consider these matters.
RESOLVED:
That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items pursuant to Section 100(A) 4 of the Local Government Act 1972 as amended on the grounds that it involved the likely discussion of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of part 1 of the Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972
The Committee asked, and officers responded, to question on finance and other matters contained within the confidential appendix to the report.
It was moved and seconded that the Committee move back into Part 1 to allow the press and public to return to the meeting.
RESOLVED:
That the meeting move back into Part 1 to enable the press and public to return to the meeting.
The Committee adjourned for a short break.
The Committee in considering the proposal to dispose of the public open spaces land raised the following matters during the debate:
· the land being a brownfield site and labelled as such in the local plan, where it was identified for development
· concern about the loss of open space for use by local residents
· loss of trees and if tree preservations orders could be applied for
· loss of biodiversity
· concern about contamination of the site from previous use
· could a percentage of the proceeds of a sale be used to improve biodiversity in Alsager and this be raised with future developer if the land was disposed of
· sale would be capital receipt for the Council.
The recommendations of the report, having been moved and seconded, were put to the vote.
RESOLVED: That the Committee
1 having considered the responses received as a result of the public notices, approve the disposal of the public open space land off Talke Road, Alsager.
2 delegate power to the Head of Estates to negotiate and agree terms for the disposal of the land, and to instruct the Director of Governance and Compliance to negotiate and enter into the legal agreements necessary to facilitate the disposal of the land.