Agenda and minutes

Members made no declarations of interest.

In accordance with Standing Order No. 19, the following members of the public submitted questions in relation to the bus station site which included the leisure complex. Mr Fuggle and a representative of Mr Haigh were present; Mr Preist, Mr Lewis and Mr Crawley were not present.  The Chair gave responses to each of the questions.  A copy of the questions had been circulated to Members and were also made available at the meeting. The questions and the responses are appended to the minutes.

In accordance with Standing Order No 20, a question was put by Councillor Prowse to the Portfolio Holder for City Development.  A copy of the question had previously been circulated to Members.  The response is appended to the minutes.

A question was also put by Councillor Thompson to the Portfolio Holder as appropriate. A copy of the question had previously been circulated to Members. The response is appended to the minutes.

RESOLVED that, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of item 4 on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part I, Schedule 12A of the Act.

A Member sought clarification as to why the report on the funding of the bus station was being considered in the confidential part of the agenda.  He had hoped that, as much debate as possible would be made in the public arena. The Deputy Chief Executive responded stating that the reasons for confidentiality were to ensure that Members could receive all of the necessary information and ensure a full and frank debate on all of the issues, including the potential negotiations with the commercial developer.  The Chair advised that he would ask officers to extract some information from the confidential report to enable a report to be circulated, to the meeting of the Executive scheduled for 18 January 2016, which would be considered in the open part of the agenda and so available to the public.  The Member welcomed this undertaking by the Chair.

Members voted on this matter.

RESOLVED that, under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the consideration of the following item on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part I, Schedule 12A of the Act.

To consider the report of the Assistant Director Finance.  

The Assistant Director Finance presented a report which sought Members’ consideration, together with a request for additional funding to deliver the new Exeter Bus Station, as part of the redevelopment scheme for the existing Bus and Coach Station site. The request for £6.25 million would be added to the City Council’s capital programme, with £4 million to be set aside from Community Infrastructure Levy, (CIL), and £2.25 million from capital receipts.

The Assistant Director Finance made a short presentation, and included details of the proposed Exeter Bus station facilities, and the practical aspects of the delivery of the Bus Station site.  He also presented the financial options that had been considered. He assured Members that the project would be subject to ongoing scrutiny to ensure value for money and additional governance arrangements would be put in place to ensure a successful outcome for the delivery of the project.

A Member sought clarification as to how the requested sum would be used. The Assistant Director Finance responded to the Member and stated that further borrowing should not be required. He confirmed the sum of £6.25m was required to deliver the bus station, and that the request would not result in a rise in council tax. 

A Member enquired why the City Council was taking this action, when Devon County Council was the transport authority. The Assistant Director Finance referred to the need to expedite the delivery of this project to progress the overall scheme.  The Corporate Manager Property provided information on the statutory rights of approved bus operators using the Bus Station and also discussed the current and potential rental income streams from any future operator.  It was also confirmed that the outline planning application for the entire Bus and Coach Station site, including the leisure complex would be submitted to an Extraordinary meeting of Council on 20 January 2016.  

Councillor Thompson had submitted questions in advance of the meeting, to which the Assistant Director Finance offered the following responses - 

·         the matter was not considered to be a key decision, as it was a decision being taken by full Council (key decisions relate only to matters being decided by the Executive).

·         the City Council had the aspiration to deliver a comprehensive scheme facilitating the new leisure complex, bus station, commercial property and public realm on the Bus and Coach Station site. The location and layout of the current bus station prevented this from being possible. The proposed bus station layout was set out in the outline planning application.

·         in respect of the scheme being seen as value for money, the wider development provided the opportunity for the Council to secure some long term income streams, which would support the revenue budget in the future.  If approved, the total commitment for the Council would total £32.25m.  In terms of future maintenance, it was expected that the maintenance of the Leisure Complex would form part of the management contract and the bus station maintenance would form part of the lease obligations.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.