Agenda item

Further to Minute 88 (23 January 2018), the Cabinet Member for Economic and Social Development presented a report on the next steps in respect of the redevelopment of the Vicarage Field site in Barking Town Centre.

The developer Lagmar (Barking) Ltd (an entity of Benson Elliot Real Estate Partners IV LP who held the lease of the shopping centre) intended to start construction of the consented redevelopment scheme in autumn 2019.  As part of the preparations, the developer had been assembling the site ready for redevelopment through the acquisition of the various third-party interests within the site. The Cabinet Member explained that, in common with other development schemes the size of Vicarage Field, the exercise of compulsory purchase and appropriation powers was likely to be necessary to fully enable the timely delivery of the project. 

Reference was made to the properties that could potentially be the subject of compulsory purchase and the case that would need to be made jointly by the Council / Be First and the developer before the powers could be applied.  The Cabinet Member confirmed that the negotiation process would be exhausted before seeking to apply compulsory purchase powers.

Issues were raised regarding the need to ensure that existing retailers were properly supported during the major redevelopment project, that they should be able to return once the project had been completed and the importance of attracting the right businesses and retailers to the Town Centre.  The Cabinet Member advised that although he could not offer any guarantees to existing businesses and retailers who may be displaced while Vicarage Field was redeveloped, it was clearly in the best interests of Benson Elliot to have all units filled in the new development as soon as possible.

The Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Agree in principle to the use of the Council’s compulsory purchase order (CPO) powers pursuant to Section 226(1)(a) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (in respect of the area provisionally identified in Appendix 2 to the report) to acquire all third party rights and interests, subject to a detailed land referencing exercise, in order to facilitate delivery of the Vicarage Field regeneration proposals;

(ii)  Delegate authority to the Chief Operating Officer, in consultation with the Director of Law and Governance, to undertake and/or secure the carrying out of appropriate land referencing work to identify all third parties likely to be affected by the proposed CPO;

(iii)  Agree in principle that, where required to assist in the delivery of the Vicarage Field regeneration proposals, the Council shall appropriate land for planning purposes pursuant to Section 122 of the Local Government Act 1972 to enable Section 203 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 to be utilised to override any third-party rights; and

(iv)  Delegate authority to the Chief Operating Officer, in consultation with the Director of Law and Governance, to negotiate the terms of and enter into any necessary indemnity agreement(s) to ensure the Council was indemnified against all costs associated with the use of CPO and appropriation powers, including compensation properly payable to third parties affected by the CPO.