Agenda and minutes

Councillors are reminded of the need to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests that relate to business on the agenda and which have not already been included in the register of interests, before any discussion takes place on the item. Unless the interest is sensitive, you must also disclose the nature of the interest. In accordance with the Council's Code of Conduct, you must then leave the room and must not participate in any further discussion of the item.  Councillors requiring clarification should seek the advice of the Monitoring Officer prior to the day of the meeting.

No declarations of disclosable pecuniary interest were made.

Details of questions should be notified to the Corporate Manager Democratic and Civic Support at least three working days prior to the meeting.  Further information and a copy of the procedure are available from Democratic Services (Committees) (Tel: 01392 265115) and also on the Council web site - https://exeter.gov.uk/councillorsfaq/.

In accordance with Standing Order 19, 22 members of the public submitted questions in relation to Clifton Hill, including the Exeter Ski Club and also the green space associated with the site. (Attached as an appendix to these minutes).

A copy of the questions had been previously circulated to Members, and these, together with the responses from Councillor Bialyk, Portfolio Holder for Health and Wellbeing, Communities & Sport are appended to the minutes.

To receive questions from Members of the Council to appropriate Portfolio Holders.

In accordance with Standing Order 20, Councillors Mrs Thompson, Musgrave, M. Vizard, and Prowse submitted questions on matters relating to the Clifton Hill Leisure site, the Materials Recycling Facility (MRF), the city’s multi-storey car parks and pay and display parking in respect of the bus station redevelopment.

A copy of the questions had been previously circulated to Members, and these, together with the appropriate responses from Councillor Bialyk, Portfolio Holder Health and Wellbeing, Communities & Sport, Councillor Harvey Portfolio Holder Place & Commercialisation, and Councillor Sutton Portfolio Holder Economy and Culture for the Portfolio Holder City Transformation, Councillor Denham, are appended to the minutes.

To consider the report of the Director (JY).

Councillors Mrs. Thompson, Musgrave, Branston, N Vizard and M Vizard attended the meeting and spoke on the item under Standing Order 44.

The Director (JY) presented an update on the interim Built Sports and Leisure Facilities plan agreed by Council in June 2018.  The agreed plan included the decision to permanently close Clifton Hill Sports Centre and to sell the site. The City Surveyor was charged with commissioning a feasibility study for the disposal of the site, to include the sports centre and the surrounding area, with the exception of the allotments, to achieve best value for the Council. However, Council had agreed that the site should be used for residential development and not for Purpose Built Student accommodation.

The Director drew Members’ attention to six key themes included in the report:-

·      to update Members on the good progress of the £3 million investment that the Council made last year for improvements at Wonford Sports Centre, Riverside  Swimming Pool Leisure Centre and Exeter Arena/Isca Centre. The investment programme was nearing its target completion date of 31 March 2019, and early indications were that the work would come in under budget.

·      following the recently discovered structural issues with the roof and the pool surrounds at the Riverside Swimming Pool and Leisure Centre, a  recommendation to Council and request would be made for a further capital budget of £4.4 million to fully renovate and reopen the facility.

·      a recommendation to Council for the sale of the whole Clifton Hill site for a mixed residential development excluding Purpose Built Student Accommodation, on best value grounds, with an estimated capital receipt in the region of £9 million.

·      a recommendation that an area of the site would be retained by the Council to ensure that a public open green space remained on the site. This area should be a minimum 10% of the total land area, but the detail of the exact location and dimensions of the site would be agreed prior to the sale.

·      a recommendation to Council and a request for a budget of £200,000 to cover the investigation and groundworks for the marketing and sale of the site and to ensure the delivery of an optimal capital receipt for the Council, and  

·      Members would be asked to note that permission to consult on the draft Physical Activity Strategy and the Supporting Built Facility Strategy would be considered at Executive on 12 February.

The Director reminded Members of the original decision to sell the site which was clearly set out in the report, with officers requested to identify a best value option for disposal of the whole of the site for residential use.  The City Surveyor gave a financial summary of the viability work that had been carried out.  The valuer’s clear advice was that to achieve the best value, the whole site should be offered for sale. The City Surveyor explained that the indicative value for the whole of the site for residential purposes was likely to be in the region of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.