News: All systems go for CPO

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Rotherham Council has issued the legal documents for the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) to finally deal with two large burnt out buildings in Rotherham town centre.

Six years after previously discussing the same powers, negotiations with the owners have failed with the council previously stating that there is a “wide gulf between the landowner’s expectations on price and realistic values for the properties.”

On the key route through town, the former Envy nightclub building, which suffered a malicious fire in 2007, and Muskaan restaurant, which was closed after a fire in 2011, have been left empty ever since, and whilst not structurally unsafe, the buildings are widely acknowledged to be an eyesore.

Council officers are looking to acquire 3-7 Corporation Street using powers provided to enable acquiring authorities to compulsorily purchase land to carry out a function which Parliament has decided is in the public interest.

In this instance the buildings would be demolished and a private sector developer would be brought in to build a £6m residential-led, mixed-use development, comprising of apartments with commercial space on the ground floor. The council has already secured funding to address the viability gap through the Town Deal and Levelling Up Funding and a planning application was submitted at the start of 2023 and is expected to be determined this month.

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The order states: “The proposed redevelopment of the Order Land offers the opportunity to create a significantly more attractive gateway into the town centre whilst maintaining the existing views of the historic Minster.

“The redevelopment of the Order Land will also bring about a critical change of use, helping to repopulate the town centre and offering modern commercial space to take advantage of the significant leisure-focused investment at Forge Island.

“Whilst Corporation Street is not currently a residential destination, the emphasis of the Town Centre Masterplan and more recent Town Investment Plan is on repopulating Rotherham town centre. The residential market in the town centre is currently limited but redevelopments such as that proposed on the Order Land aim to develop the residential market. The redevelopment proposals intend to deliver a high-quality, private rented scheme.”

Designed by AHR Architects, the proposals show that the current buildings would be demolished and replaced by a mixed use building, between two and four storeys in height, comprising 19 residential flats and three units totalling 1,238 sq ft of commercial floorspace, plus access, external landscaping and car parking.

The order also sets out the recent history between the landowner and the council. Following the fire in 2011, the owner was interested to know if the Council would purchase the buildings or offer financial incentives for redevelopment. At the time, a lack of a strategic plan for the area, as well as lack of ready funding and resource, meant that the Council could not justify a purchase.

2014 saw a pre-application from the owners for the creation of 48 apartments but this went no further. In 2017, following preparation of the Town Centre Masterplan, the Council issued letters to engage with the landowner and discuss the possiblity of acquiring the site. No responses were received to either of these letters and the owner subsequently proposed a hotel scheme on the site. Planning permission was granted but lapsed and expired with no sign of redevelopment.

Documents show that the owner or reputed owner is Scunthorpe-based Arrangepoint Ltd. Landowners are due compensation when land is taken by a CPO. It is based on market value, loss and disturbance.

In April 2022, Gateley Hamer were appointed by the Council to conduct negotiations and seek to agree a purchase to bring the land into public ownership. The order adds that “A wide gulf between a realistic value for the site and the owner’s expectations led to an unsuccessful conclusion in this period” and adds that “more recently, whilst the owner/owner’s representatives have been engaging, it has not been possible to reach an agreement” with the owner’s representative suggesting a social housing scheme on the site.

The order concludes: “The landowner, as indicated at the Land Registry, has recently passed away and his Estate is now likely to be subject to Probate. An offer to acquire the property has been put in writing and issued to the solicitors dealing with the matter. As a result of these circumstances, the inability to reach agreement on the acquisition, timescales relating to the funding and the prior non-cooperation of the landowner it is considered necessary to make and serve the Order.”

Anyone objecting to the order has until May 4 to register with The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Images: AHR / RMBC / Google Maps



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