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Rotherham Council’s cabinet has given the go ahead for the authority to make further “strategic acquisitions” in Rotherham town centre using £1m of its own money.
The regeneration programme is now well underway using central government and Council funding and the council has already agreed that to facilitate the continued development of regeneration the town centre it is necessary to bring privately owned land into public sector ownership.
A further £1m for Strategic Land Assembly was approved in the Council’s recent budget for 2022/23. This builds on acquisitions made through the Levelling Up, Town Deal and the Council’s 2021/22 capital allocation of the £1m Strategic Acquisition Fund.
As reported by Rothbiz, previous acquisitions include properties and plots of land for more housing on sites in the Sheffield Road and Westgate area of town and the former bingo hall and retail unit vacated by Wilko’s to extend the Leisure & Cultural Quarter onto Corporation Street alongside the new Forge Island development nearby.
£70m is being used from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities through the Town Deal and Levelling Up Fund. This comes in addition to the £12.6m from the Future High Streets Fund.
The council’s cabinet has approved the public sector intervention to acquire land and property owned by the private sector by delegating powers necessary to negotiate and acquire key strategic sites.
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The extra £1m provided by the Council, as opposed to a central funding body, gives additional flexibility and “allows the Council to move at pace when the opportunity to acquire is presented. This will allow the Council to continue to react to acquisition and development opportunities swiftly and positively as and when they may arise and to support regeneration, housing and economic recovery.”
A report adds: “The Town Centre is currently home to a number of vacant, abandoned and derelict buildings and acquisition and public sector control of privately owned properties is a route to deliver on the Town Centre Masterplan ambitions.”
Another property has been identified to aid the continued diversification and regeneration of the town centre, but details have not been disclosed due to commercial issues.
Cllr. Chris Read, leader of Rotherham Council, explained: “In terms of the transparency, Cabinet gives permission, in effect, for money to be spent om particular land or buildings. The specifics of those has to be kept private for commercially sensative reasons. In layman’s terms, if somebody knows that we are trying to buy something from them, the price immediately goes up.”
Should acquisition of this property be unsuccessful or its acquisition leaves a surplus budget, properties previously identified will be considered for acquisition.
Rothbiz reported earlier this month that the council had issued the legal documents for the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) to finally deal with two large burnt out buildings on Corporation Street. A decision has also recently been published regarding the acquisition of property at Westgate / Sheffield Road showing that an agreement had been reached with the private sector owner of the relevant land, and that the delegation seeks to finalise the necessary transactions.
Images: Google Maps
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