Issue - meetings

Recommendation:

i)               That the Executive Recommend to Full Council that a Compulsory Purchase Order is pursued as a mechanism to deliver a new settlement at Maltkiln if an agreement with landowners cannot be reached.

Considered – A report of the Corporate Director for Community Development providing an update on the New Settlement (Maltkiln) Development Plan Document (DPD) following the withdrawal of previously available land within the proposed boundary and seeking in principle approval to use of the Council’s Compulsory Purchase Powers to support the delivery of Maltkiln if an agreement cannot be reached with the owners of the land outlined. 

Councillor Derek Bastiman introduced the report and welcomed the public participants to the meeting and their submissions, as follows:

1. Clare Beckett – Chair of Whixley Parish Council

‘Whixley Parish Council (WPC) has been involved in the development of the Maltkiln proposals for many years, including participating in the Community Liaison Group. WPC has made a number of representations at different stages of the process including most recently providing detailed comments on the HBC DPD document in November 2022. Separately we have made representations on the developers planning application 19/00017EIAMAJ, most recently detailed comments on the Transport Assessment – WPC Document dated January 2023.

There are some very significant infrastructure requirements to deliver Maltkiln. HBC attempted to list and cost these in the DPD (Section 11 – Delivery and Phasing) but the information in this section was full of omissions, inconsistencies and errors (WPC comments on DPD Page 9).  The developer’s own highway advisor concluded that the A59 between the A1(M) and Maltkiln would need to be widened to a dual carriageway (Developer’s Transport Assessment Para 8.10 onwards) but that the developer would not be able to fund it. A widening scheme for the A59 is not included in the HBC list of infrastructure projects in the DPD.

The developer’s highway advisor made errors in their assessment of the capacity of the existing A59 (WPC Document January 2023) which means the dual carriageway scheme will be required much sooner in the build out of the development. Using the correct calculations A59 widening may also be required on the east side of Maltkiln.

A key element of the development is to provide a new bridge over the railway to replace the existing Cattal level crossing. Network Rail have full control over the provision of this bridge and WPC do not believe the costs and risks of this have ever been properly quantified.  Infrastructure requirements of this scale will require funding from the public sector. NYC have now concluded CPO and by implication public money is likely to required just to assemble the land required for the comprehensive development envisaged in HBC’s Local Plan.

There must be sufficient doubt over the availability of public funds of this scale to mean that NYC should question whether delivery of Maltkiln is a viable prospect and whether it’s a sensible use of public money to proceed with the DPD process.  WPC would like to ask the executive members whether they have been sufficiently briefed over the viability of the scheme, including the implications of recent cost rises, to have confidence that proceeding with the DPD is appropriate?

WPC would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 360