That the Cabinet recommend to Council:

(i)      that the disposal of the freehold interest of land at Garfield Road, Paignton (identified in Appendix 1 to the submitted report), be approved and the Chief Executive be given delegated authority to agree and finalise any Heads of Terms in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Economic Regeneration, Tourism and Housing and the Section 151 Officer;

(ii)     that delegated authority be given to the Chief Executive to select and then enter into a development agreement with a development partner for the effective delivery of the Scheme;

(iii)    Alternatively if (i) above is not achieved within timescales required for the Land Release Fund, the Chief Executive be given delegated authority to dispose of the site at Garfield Road on the open market, as a straightforward freehold sale.

The site is identified in the Paignton Town Centre Masterplan, development of the site is support by the Torbay Local Plan and the Council identified, in its Transformation Strategy for Torbay’s Town Centres, that various options were being considered for Victoria Centre, including re-use of the site of the older of the two car parks and demolition of older car park, to be replaced by a residential development.  The Paignton Neighbourhood Plan provides qualified support for development.

Torbay Council was awarded £900,000 of LRF grant aid by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for the purposes of securing early release of the land at Garfield Road for residential development.  The LRF requires that the sites are ‘released’ for development.

The development and disposal options available to the Council have been identified as:

Disposal Options

·           Option 1: Direct Development by Torbay Council

·           Option 2: Delivery by the Council’s Housing Company

·           Option 3: Public Private Partnership (Development Agreement)

·           Option 4: Straightforward Freehold Sale

Development Options

·           Option A: Student accommodation

·           Option B: Care home, sheltered accommodation, extra care

·           Option C: 15 Town houses

·           Option D: 70 – 100 Apartments

An analysis of these options are set out in Appendix 2 to the submitted report.

The Cabinet recommendations will be considered at the Council meeting on 24 October 2019.

Approval is sought for release of the site to, and delivery of a scheme by, a development partner.  It is proposed that the Council will dispose of its freehold interest in the land at Garfield Road by way of entering into a development agreement with a housing delivery partner. 

The redevelopment of land on Garfield Road, currently occupied by one of the two multi-storey car parks at Victoria Centre, is supported by the Local Plan, Neighbourhood Plan, Paignton Town Centre Masterplan and Council’s Transformation Strategy for Torbay’s Town Centres.  Land Release Funding (LRF) has been secured and is being used to unlock the site for housing related development, with a target ‘release’ date of 31 March 2020.

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