Issue - meetings

(Cabinet Member with Special Responsibility Councillor Jackson)

Report of Director for Communities & the Environment

(Cabinet Member with Special Responsibility Councillor Jackson)

Cabinet received a report from the Director for Communities and the Environment which provided an update on the Mainway estate project and sought authorisation to proceed to the next stages.

The options, options analysis, including risk assessment and officer preferred option, were set out in the report as follows:

From the work undertaken so far it is clear this project provides an opportunity to work with the community to develop a vision for the Mainway area that contributes significantly towards the priorities agreed by the Council and outlined at the outset of this report. Work has been undertaken to start to develop the vision with further work required to set out clearly what the possibilities are. In order to deliver this vision a view on the different options for the buildings in the area is required.

There are essentially 4 options: -

 A) Refurbish the existing buildings to extend their life by approximately 25-30 years. The cost of this option is estimated to be £23.5M. This option would still require tenants to be relocated whilst works were undertaken. The end product would still not meet the Council’s standards for housing energy efficiency, health, safety and security. It would essentially be a short-term repair, with little prospect of recovering the investment from rent returns before a further development or repair project would be required.

B) Demolish and rebuild the estate. The cost of this option is estimated to be £37M (keeping a similar number of properties within the Council’s portfolio). It is envisaged that the estate will mainly be built for social housing however further detailed analysis in terms of a mixed tenure scheme including opportunities for market and affordable rent, as well as other options and delivery through More Homes for the Bay (yet to be incorporated) will need to be considered. Additional properties could be considered however, to keep the integrity of the proposed new estate and ensure planning approval, this will be difficult.

C) Demolish the estate, sell the land and seek to rebuild elsewhere. This is the least worked up option. On the basis that a) there will be considerable demolition costs that will offset the value of the land b) the Council does not have alternative land to build equivalent properties and c) uprooting an established community and moving people elsewhere creates considerable conflicts with the Council’s intended outcomes for the District and its residents.

D) Demolish the estate, sell the land and don’t rebuild lost properties elsewhere. Along with option C this option has not been worked up in any detail. Properties would all need to be vacated within 5yrs- this would create a local housing crisis and creates a significant conflict with the Council’s intended outcome for the District and its residents. There would be considerable risk to the future of the HRA through lost rental income.

Based on the work undertaken to date options A and B are the only options that are able to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 130