Agenda item

Thornaby Town Deal Update

Meeting of Cabinet, Monday 17th June, 2024 4.30 pm (Item CAB/23/24)

Decision:

1. Title of Item/Report

Thornaby Town Deal Update

2. Record of the Decision

Consideration was given to a report that provided an update on progress made in the development and delivery of priority interventions that would be delivered across Thornaby, under the Town Deal programme.

Members were reminded that Thornaby had been identified as one of 101 towns to be included as part of the Government’s Town Deal Programme and in March 2021 was allocated £23.9m of investment funding to support transformational change across the town.

In Thornaby Town Centre, work, to date, had focused on the opportunities to address the impact of long-term vacant properties, namely Phoenix House and the Golden Eagle. In January 2022 the Council took control of Phoenix House, which was subsequently demolished in 2023, providing a cleared site for redevelopment.

Cabinet noted that the Council owned the freehold of Thornaby Town Centre, including the Golden Eagle building. The Council’s freehold interest was subject to a 150-year lease to LCP Proudreed, with 134 years unexpired, essentially making them owners of the town centre by virtue of the length of their lease. East Eye Limited held a 99-year lease, with a 42 years unexpired term on the Golden Eagle building, directly from LCP Proudreed.

Progress has been made regarding seeking to secure control of the Golden Eagle, namely by agreeing in-principle and subject to Cabinet approval, the surrender of the two leasehold interests in the building.

Once the leasehold interests have been acquired, the Council would be able to proceed with the demolition of the building, which had been identified as a priority since the Let’s Talk About Our Towns consultation in 2020 and subsequent business case documentation linked to Town Deal approval.

An independent valuation had been undertaken alongside an assessment of the likely cost of pursuing a Compulsory Purchase Order to secure the site. This advice had provided a basis for negotiations on acquisitions of the two leasehold interests.

The Council, with support from specialist property advisors, had reached agreement to acquire the leasehold interests. Detail of the considerations within the negotiation and agreed values for acquisition of leasehold interests were provided in an exempt Appendix A, to the report.

As part of the negotiations to unlock the Golden Eagle site, the current long leaseholder, requested that a condition of the surrender of their lease was the sale of the Council’s freehold interest in Thornaby Town Centre. This proposal had formed part of the agreement in place with the long leaseholder LCP Proudreed and the full terms of the disposal and conditions were detailed in the exempt Appendix A.

Cabinet had previously approved the principal of the construction of a new swimming pool on the former Phoenix House site. It was explained that following discussion with Tees Active Leisure and Thornaby Town Deal Board, there had been a desire, from an operational and local level, to see enhanced gym provision included within the scope of work.

This opportunity has been explored and it was proposed that the scheme include the creation of a 25m 5-lane swimming pool at ground floor and c400sqm gym at first floor along with a modern changing village and dry changing facilities to benefit all facility users. The programme for the closure and demolition of Thornaby pool would be carefully phased to ensure there was continuity of pool provision.

The change in scope to incorporate enhanced gym provision alongside rising construction prices, material and inflationary pressures has resulted in higher than anticipated costs for the project. Cabinet was therefore requested to approve the draw down of £4,500,000 from the previously allocated £5m in the MTFP February 2021 to supplement investment in the town centre scheme and enable delivery within the agreed project scope.

To further mitigate against current cost pressures Cabinet was asked to approve the reallocation of £1.5m Town Deal funding from the cycleways intervention to supplement the town centre regeneration schemes.

Cabinet received updates relating to:-

The New Skills Facility

North Thornaby

Connecting Thornaby

Members were provided with a table detailing all the necessary revised funding allocations for each intervention. Table 1

RESOLVED that

1. the progress made, on the development and delivery of the priority interventions, across the Town Deal Programme and endorsed by Thornaby Town Deal Board, be noted.

2. authority be delegated to the Director of Regeneration and Inclusive Growth, Director of Corporate Services, Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Finance, Transformation & Performance, in consultation with Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Housing, to negotiate, agree the terms of and enter, all necessary agreements, transactions and contracts to secure the acquisition, demolition and redevelopment of the Golden Eagle.

3. the use of £4,500,000 from the previously approved £5million allocation,

be approved, to supplement investment in the proposed leisure facility

and redevelopment works to Thornaby Pavilion.

4. the revised reallocation of Town Deal and co-funding resources, to

enable delivery of the priority interventions, as outlined at Table 1, be approved.

5. the recommendations contained in the exempt Appendix A to the report be approved.

3. Reasons for the Decision

The recommendations set out below will provide significant investment and enable further development and delivery of facilities and infrastructure as part of the Town Deal programme for Thornaby.

4. Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

None

5. Declared (Cabinet Member) Conflicts of Interest

Councillor Steve Nelson declared an Other Registerable Interest as an unpaid member of the Tees Active Board and withdrew from the meeting taking no part in the discussion and voting.

6. Details of any Dispensations