Licence to Grant the Temporary Use of Part of Parker’s Piece to Facilitate the Demolition and Rebuild of the University Arms Hotel

Decision of:

Councillor O’Reilly, Executive Councillor for City Centre and Public Places

Reference:

14/URGENCY/CCS/10

Date of decision:              

25/11/14

Recorded on:  25/11/14

Decision Type:

Non Key Decision

Matter for Decision:

To facilitate the redevelopment of the University Arms Hotel the developer (Melford Capital) has asked to use a small section of Parker’s Piece (2% of its total area) as a site compound for a 2 year duration.  This is partly to address health and safety issues but also to speed up the redevelopment period and therefore reduce the disruption period.  This is a large project and will be disruptive to the surrounding area due to noise, traffic disruption (pedestrian, vehicular, cycle) on Parker’s Piece, Park Terrace and Regent Street as well as the visual appearance.

Why the decision had to be made (and any alternative options):

Officers’ from the City and County Council have discussed the use of other sites with the developer which could be used to minimise the disruption to the City.   All of these options have now been discounted apart from two, one to rebuild on site and two, to allow the temporary use of a small part of Parker’s Piece. 

The Executive Councillor’s decision(s):

The Executive Councillor resolved to:

a)   note the points raised through the public consultation and how these have been clarified and addressed: and

b)   instruct Officers to proceed with the granting of the Temporary Licence for use of the defined section of Parker’s Piece.

Reasons for the decision:

As detailed in the officer’s report. After the extended period which provided opportunity for public comment on the granting of the licence the report summarised the key feedback and made a response to each of the issues raised.   The report is taken out of cycle given the commencement of enabling works and decision required by the developer on the use of the land.

Scrutiny consideration:

The chair and spokesperson of community services scrutiny committee were consulted prior to the action being authorised.

Report:

A report detailing the background and financial considerations is attached.

Conflicts of interest:

None

Comments:

Councillor Reiner raised the following concerns (summarised):

1.    She was not convinced that the contractors really need this licence to complete the construction, or that granting the licence will speed up the construction.

2.    The fee does not come close to reflecting the value of the land to the contractor or the hotel.

3.    City council should go back and re negotiate the fee with the help of professional advisors.

4.    There should be a large step up in fees if the project runs over 2 years.

Officers answered her questions and her concerns were noted.

Link to report

http://mgsqlmh01/ecSDDisplay.aspx?NAME=Licence%20to%20Grant%20the%20Temporary%20Use%20of%20Part%20of%20Park&ID=1254&RPID=42794525&sch=doc&cat=13024&path=13020%2c13021%2c13024