Meeting documents

To consider the report attached as an appendix.

Contact Officer: David Rowley (01296) 585883

The Committee received a report which provided Members with an update on the Council’s adoption of the Riverine Corridor on Fairford Leys under the terms of the related Section 106 agreements

Outline planning permission for the Fairford Leys development had originally been granted in 1992.  Common with such large scale development, S106 Agreements had been drawn up to ensure development, infrastructure and open space came forward in a managed and timely manner.  A key element of the development was the provision of a Riverine Corridor through the development.

The position set out in the S106 Agreements was that AVDC was not required to take responsibility for any part of the Riverine Corridor until five years after the final section was completed. The final landscaping had been completed in March 2006 so adoption could take place from March 2011 onwards. Given the size of the area, transfer of the Riverine Corridor was proposed to be split into seven phases.

Starting with the first three phases encompassing the centre of Fairford Leys, AVDC had been working with the Consortium’s Consultant to try and prepare plans which would satisfy Land Registry requirements.  The Council also undertook it’s own detailed tree survey as the one provided by the developers was inadequate.

Due to the complexity in resolving title discrepancies for the three phases and the limited time Land Registry searches remained valid, the advice was to focus on completing just Phase 1 initially.

By early 2013, the Phase 1 transfer had been signed/sealed, the land was in an acceptable condition and AVDC were ready to complete. However, it was then discovered that a Certificate was required relating to a restriction imposed by the Ernest Cook Trust when the land was sold to Taylor Wimpey.  The Ernest Cook Trust would not issue this Certificate until the final tranche of Highways had been adopted by Buckinghamshire County Council (BCC) – which at this time was still outstanding .

BCC Highway adoption did not complete until June 2015, leading to a significant delay in progressing the Riverine adoption. The Ernest Cook Trust were also seeking to alter the land included within Phase 1 creating fresh legal work. As a result of this HB Law were still awaiting responses from Taylor Wimpey before they could agree any revised Transfer documentation.  Once this has been resolved satisfactorily, any outstanding works could be undertaken allowing adoption by AVDC.  It would then be possible to move onto the next phases.

When the development had started, the Council had a process whereby the majority of open space land would be adopted by the Council.  However, this blanket adoption policy was no longer seen as an essential requirement as long as the land was provided to an approved standard. The Council now allowed developers to approach the local Parish Council or set up management companies to adopt or oversee future maintenance of these areas.  This was the position with the Berryfields MDA and was also being look at for Buckingham Park.

In line with this, Coldharbour Parish Council had expressed a strong interest in taking on the future management of the Riverine Corridor and already carry out much of the maintenance which was currently Taylor Wimpey’s responsibility.  However, the S106 Agreement did not include any provision for a commuted sum payment for the future maintenance of the Riverine Corridor.

AVDC and Coldharbour Parish Council had discussed the possibility of passing future responsibility of this area to the Parish Council, however, until such time that the land is transferred to AVDC we are not able to transfer on to the Parish Council.

It was explained to Members that the adoption of the Riverine Corridor created a significant financial obligation to the Council in terms of maintenance of the land and repair of the footpaths and bridges that cross the corridor.

The Council had set aside a sum from the original Taylor Wimpey receipt for the purposes of investment, in order to generate an investment return, the proceeds of which could be used to fund the maintenance obligations.  Unfortunately, interest rates have remained stubbornly low over the past 7 years and so the income stream derived from the investment had not amassed to a significant sum.  Currently, the sum held by the Council for the maintenance obligations is £850,000.

However, if Coldharbour Parish Council wished to accept responsibility for the Riverine Corridor and the Council was minded to transfer it, then the Council might also wish to consider whether it was prepared to transfer some or all of the sums held to the Parish Council.

Members requested further information and were informed:-

(i)         that Officers had been pushing the developers as hard as they could so that the Riverine Corridor would be in a position to be able to be adopted.  It was anticipated that once the first phase was completed that the further phases would proceed much quicker.

(ii)        that a number of flood alleviation measures had already been incorporated into the Riverine Corridor to mitigate the potential for possible future flooding.

(iii)       that AVDC and its Officers were committed to getting the scheme up to speed as soon as possible so that it could be adopted.

RESOLVED –

(1)       That the report and latest position regarding the Riverine Corridor at Fairford Leys be noted.

(2)       That Officers be thanked for the work that they had done to date, with it being hoped that the Riverine Corridor would soon be in a position to be able to be adopted.