Purpose

Agree the land at The Drive (aka Stanton Drew
Play Area) is a suitable asset for transfer to Stanton Drew Parish
Council, by way of Community Asset Transfer.

Decision

(1) 
To determine that the
subject asset be transferred to Stanton Drew Parish Council via a
Community Asset Transfer.
 
(2) 
To delegate to the
Head of Corporate Estate, in Consultation with the Section 151
Officer, the power to enter a Community Asset Transfer.

Reasons for the decision

The Community Asset Transfer will benefit B&NES by
removing holding, asset management and maintenance costs. Project
resources will transfer to Stanton Drew
Parish Council (SDPC) with funds allocated by SDPC for work in this
area when the annual budget is prepared each year.
 
Managing the land will be SDPC’s responsibility with
a member of the Parish Council checking the asset on a weekly basis.
 
Local management and responsibility for the assets will
improve as a result of Parish Council
personal investment.
 
The Parish Council intends to use reserved funds and to
seek match funding from local charities to enable a complete
replacement of equipment in the play area. Good equipment is
expensive; thus, the Parish Council would also try and seek
multi-source funding, via nationally available grants. The Parish
is in an area that benefits from the existence of two supportive
and active Community Funds. Initial enquiries indicate that the
local charity trusts would be happy to support an application for
equipment that is to be sited on an area
if it has a long-term security of
tenure. A lease of 15 years would be sufficient.

Alternative options considered

Housing has advised there is clearly potential for
a small housing development on the site
which would still leave space for a good quality play area and
create the added advantage of natural supervision of the play area.
Given the scarcity of other Council-owned sites in the area which
could enable some rural affordable housing, the Housing team were
not comfortable supporting the transfer of the site on a permanent
basis as this would deny them the option to explore a development
with future Parish leaders.
 
As such it was agreed to offer a 15-year lease to Stanton
Drew Parish Council. Housing can then revisit the site in the near future and are agreeable to the 15-year
term.
 
The Parish Council has confirmed that it is agreeable to
proceeding by way of a 15-year lease
term for the Play Area. When the Local Plan is ready to be
submitted, the Parish Council will review their Neighbourhood Plan and at that point initiate a
Local Housing Need Assessment and consult with Housing.