Agenda item

To authorise the Director – Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer to dispose of the freehold interest in approximately 0.2 hectares (0.5 acres) of land to Sandwell College.

Agreed:-

(1)     that approval be given to authorise the Director – Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer to dispose of the freehold interest in approximately 0.2 hectares (0.5 acres) of land situated on the south side of Lower High Street, Cradley Heath, shown for identification purposes edged black on Plan No SAM/30500/003 attached, to Sandwell College, for the purpose of constructing a Satellite Education, Training and Skills Hub, for the sum of £1 (one pound), on terms and conditions to be agreed by the Director - Regeneration and Growth;

(2)     that Cabinet authorise the Director – Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer to enter into or execute under seal, if necessary any other related documentation in connection with the disposal of the site on terms and conditions to be agreed by the Director - Regeneration and Growth.

Approval was sort to authorise the Director – Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer to dispose of the freehold interest of land situated on the south side of Lower High Street, Cradley Heath.

The land at Lower High Street, Cradley Heath, formerly in use as a public car park, would be transferred to Sandwell College, for the sum of £1, in order to facilitate the development of a Satellite Education Hub, financed through a £9m grant from the Government’s Towns Fund. The cost to remedy the site was identified as being in excess of the land value and therefore, disposal for £1 was advised.

Reasons for recommendations

To enable the freehold transfer of council-owned land at Lower High Street, Cradley Heath, formerly in use as a public car park, to Sandwell College, for the sum of £1 (one pound), in order to facilitate the development of a Satellite Education Hub, financed through a £9m grant from the Government’s Towns Fund. The cost to remedy the site for the proposed scheme is in excess of the agreed land use value and therefore to bring forward the development, the recommendation is to dispose of the site for £1.

Alternative options considered

The first option the Council could consider is the disposal of the freehold of the land on the open market to generate a capital receipt. However, this option would miss an opportunity to unlock an important regeneration opportunity to deliver a much-needed education, training and skills facility in Cradley Heath and so contribute to meeting the aims of the Council’s Corporate Plan.

Planning policy guidance directs the development of educational facilities such as this one into town centre locations. No site that meets the criteria around size, location, Council ownership and immediate availability free from occupation, lease or other legal encumbrance is available in Cradley Heath town centre. This second option is therefore closed. Sandwell College specifically require a site that is within easy reach of Cradley Heath train station, to offer accessibility to potential users across the south-west of the borough who are not currently within easy reach either of Sandwell College campuses in West Bromwich town centre or of other FE providers in Dudley or Halesowen.

As a third option, an exercise was undertaken early in 2021, when a former bank premises in Old Hill town centre became available. At the time, the building was privately-owned and the process of acquisition had not begun. It had not been surveyed but was considered incapable of conversion to meet current requirements for educational use, while neither the building nor the site it occupies were of sufficient size to meet the College’s needs; finally, its position in Old Hill town centre was considered too remote from rail connections to be of value to potential users.

The fourth and final option considered was the option of doing nothing. This alternative would fail to meet any of the objectives set out in this report. It would fail to deliver the Satellite Education Hub, fail to bring a much-needed £9m investment into the borough and fail to secure a much-needed uplift in education, training and skills amongst the people of Rowley Regis.

Agreed:-

(1)          that approval be given to authorise the Director – Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer to dispose of the freehold interest in approximately 0.2 hectares (0.5 acres) of land situated on the south side of Lower High Street, Cradley Heath, shown for identification purposes edged black on Plan No SAM/30500/003 attached, to Sandwell College, for the purpose of constructing a Satellite Education, Training and Skills Hub, for the sum of £1 (one pound), on terms and conditions to be agreed by the Director - Regeneration and Growth;

(2)          that  the Director – Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer be authorised to enter into or execute under seal, if necessary any other related documentation in connection with the disposal of the site on terms and conditions to be agreed by the Director - Regeneration and Growth.