Minutes:
Councillor Cotton sought clarification regarding the item in terms of those Councillors who were also Members of the Planning Committee. The Director of Resources assured Members that the project was for ‘in principle’ agreement only at this time, and should an application be presented to the Planning Committee in due course, Members of this Committee should then declare their involvement at that time.
The Economic and Commercial Growth Director reminded Members that ‘in principle’ approval had been agreed in September 2016, by both the Prosperous Communities and Corporate Policy and Resources Committees, following which negotiations had continued with the developer, and the viability gap acknowledged.
Members had acknowledged that securing a hotel in Gainsborough would have a significant and positive economic impact on the town; and with regard to the joint venture company the strong rationale as summarised below:
· DPL/NSGL ownership of the adjacent property required to deliver a hotel;
· DPL’s matching funding with the Council's equity share investment;
· DPL’s track record of delivering successful regeneration in the town;
· enabling the Council to deliver key regeneration objectives and generate potential commercial return to the Council.
In short, both projects would accelerate the physical and economic regeneration of the town centre. Officers at that time had been delegated to negotiate and prepare a Grant Funding Agreement (GFA). Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) and Articles of Association in line with the Heads of Terms agreed by these committees.
When first considering these proposals Members stressed the importance of securing high quality development and the need to maximise the environmental and regenerative impact of the projects to be commensurate with the level of Council support. In response to this Officers had worked up the Joint Venture Agreement, and Articles of Association to incorporate a wider area of benefit, to include Market, North and Church Streets and Market Place.
The Council and its commercial advisors had continued to work on an “open book” basis with DPL to scrutinise the cost and value of the hotel. A detailed scheme had been worked up and would form a planning application to be submitted to a future meeting of the Planning Committee.
Officers had augmented and quantified the business case to support the redevelopment of the hotel and restaurant, and Joint Venture Company through a bespoke economic impact assessment undertaken by an independent specialist 31TEN.
Further specialist legal advice had been taken in developing these proposals specifically with regards to State Aid and procurement, in addition to in-house legal advice, which had appraised the final suite of agreements to implement the recommendations. These Agreements followed the Heads of Terms Members agreed in September/October 2016 and provided a robust basis to manage the release of the Council’s funding, delivery of outputs and ensure value for money.
Members debated the report and its proposals at some length and generally agreed that this was an exciting opportunity to develop part of the town. Concerns were however expressed at the lack of a Councillor on the board, as this was felt to be an opportunity to have close scrutiny. It was clarified however that a Councillor’s primary role was allegiance to West Lindsey District Council, but as a board member would be required to support the company which would lead to a conflict of interest. It was therefore recommended that one of the Council’s independent Governance and Audit Committee Members be allocated the place on the board, which would alleviate that conflict.
Officers were congratulated for undertaking a thorough job on the project, and that the risks had been mitigated as far as was possible. This would be a bold and enterprising venture and would turn Gainsborough’s fortunes and perception positively.
RESOLVED that:
a) the Council enters into a Grant Funding Agreement (as attached as Appendix 1 to the report), to enable the redevelopment of the Sun Inn to a new 56 bedroom hotel with an independent ground floor restaurant, be approved;
b) the Council becomes a member of Market Street Renewal Limited (a 50/50 joint venture company with DPL to facilitate the regeneration of Market, Church and North Streets and Market Place area) by subscribing for shares in the company in accordance with the Joint Venture Agreement, Articles of Association and associated company formation documents (attached at Appendix 2 to the report), be approved;
c) the Council enters into the Joint Venture Agreement, and the Shareholders Loan Agreement (attached as Appendix 2 to the report) to form, finance and govern the operation of “Market Street Renewal Limited”, be approved;
d) the release of the requisite funding set out in recommendations a), b) and c) above and to include a capped grant of up to £1,400K to NSGL, pursuant to the GFA, and loan funding of £250K pursuant to a Shareholders Loan Agreement to Market Street Renewal Limited, be approved;
e) the sale of the Council’s long leasehold interest in properties in North Street into Market Street Renewal Limited at market value subject to a business case and in compliance with the Council’s Disposal Policy be approved in principle;
f) the appointment of the Economic and Commercial Growth Director plus one other officer or independent, as Directors of Market Street Renewal Limited and approve that the Council enters into the Deed of Indemnity (attached as Appendix 3 to the report) in respect of each such appointee, be agreed;
g) the appointment of the Director of Resources to represent the Council as the shareholder in Market Street Renewal Limited, be agreed;
h) delegation be given to the Chief Executive, following consultation with Chairmen of Corporate Policy and Resources and Prosperous Communities Committees, to take such decisions and execute such documents as shall give effect to the above decisions.