Purpose

This Carpenter’s Estate report is
required to be submitted on the Forward Plan today for Newham
Council Cabinet on the 5th of Sept 2023. Approval of the report
will enable the next phases of work to be progressed in relation to
Carpenter’s Estate. Approval will provide:
 
Funding to appoint professional services and
design teams to undertake detailed design work; enabling planning
submissions and main contractor tendering for Phases 2 (Lund
Quarter), Phases 3 (Station Quarter), a new Carpenters Primary
School and supporting housing, and to deliver the Carpenters Estate
meanwhile framework projects.
 
Funding for a regeneration manager post, whose
role will involve the overall co-ordination of the Estate
Masterplan and include resident engagement, communications and
Community Wealth Building (but not activity directly related to the
design and delivery of the different phases).
 
Appointment of Populo by LBN under a
Development Management Services (DMS) Agreement to deliver the
above work. Post planning approval, and once construction of each
phase commences, Populo will then be directly responsible for the
delivery of each phase.
 
The Vacant Possession Strategy will also be
approved. This sets out how engagement and negotiated settlements
will be undertaken with both commercial and residential
leaseholders on the estate to obtain Vacant possession.

Decision

For the reasons set out in
the report and its appendices Cabinet RESOLVED to Agree:
 

i) 
To reconfirm the previously approved budget of £51.8m for the
Carpenters Estate Regeneration and agree to allocating it as set
out in the table in Paragraph 1.3.

ii) 
To approve the Council appointment of Populo Design & Build Ltd under a new
Development Management Services (DMS) Agreements for the
progression of the early phases as follows:
 

· 
£4.4m to progress Phase 2 - Lund Quarter to RIBA Stage 3 and
Full Planning Application submission;

· 
£6.4m to progress Phase 3 - Station Quarter to RIBA Stage 3
and Full Planning Application submission;

· 
£3.5m to progress Carpenters Primary school building project
to RIBA Stage 3 and Full Planning Application submission;

· 
£6.2m to secure Full Planning Permission and then manage
procurement and construction of the Meanwhile Projects; and

· 
£1.2m for Masterplan Regeneration Management, as set out in
Appendix H 

iii) 
To delegate finalising the terms of each individual DMS Agreement
with Populo Design and Build to the
Corporate Director of Inclusive Economy and Housing in consultation
with the Corporate Director of Resources; the Lead Member for
Inclusive Economy, Housing Delivery and Climate Emergency, and
Transformation and Performance; the Lead Member for Finance and
Resources and the Lead Member for Housing Management and
Modernisation.

iv) 
To approve the Vacant Possession Strategy as set out in Exempt
Appendix A1 and A2, and authorise the transactions to secure the
commercial and residential properties.

v) 
To delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Resources in
consultation with the Interim Corporate Director of Inclusive
Economy and Housing; Lead Member for Inclusive Economy, Housing
Delivery and Climate Emergency; and Transformation and Performance;
the Lead Member for Finance and Resources and the Lead Member for
Housing Management and Modernisation to complete the commercial and
residential acquisitions, as set out in the Vacant Possession
Strategy in Exempt Appendix A1 and A2.

vi) 
To agree to approve that an application be made to the Secretary of
State to remove land proposed for residential development on the
current primary school site, proposed in the planning application
and indicated in Exempt Appendix A3, from educational use to
residential use, and to delegate approval of the final details of
the application and the Council report to the Corporate Director of
Inclusive Economy and Housing Delivery, in consultation with Lead
Member for Inclusive Economy and Housing Delivery, Director of
Education and Lead Member for Education.
 
Alternatives
Considered
 

a) 
Section 4 of this report considered all the
alternative delivery options for the early phases. Appendix I,
provides further detail on the leading options of DMS to
completion, DMS to start on site and Direct Delivery. It then
provides an Options Appraisal of all six options against key
criteria. Appendix J, Newbridge
Delivery Methods Appraisal, then examines the two DMS delivery
routes in further detail. This forms the basis for the
recommendation to proceed with a DMS to start on site, on the basis
that either delivery option can then be adopted.
 

b) 
This leaves the alternative of stopping further work
to progress the programme of design development and delivery on the
Carpenters, as set out in this report. The project could be paused
or halted in its entirety or in part, indefinitely or until the
Council considers it appropriate to restart the project and
associated design development work. The Council could alternatively
choose to dispose of phases or procure a JV partner at this point,
however it should be noted that the latter would still require the
associated expense on design development once a partner was in
place, and through the removal of profit, would impact on project
viability, and the former would relinquish control and
significantly impact the delivery of affordable housing and
Community Wealth Building aspirations.
 
c) 
Should the Council choose to halt progress on the
Carpenters Programme this would be likely to result in the loss of
specialist expertise and knowledge of the project, a significant
loss of confidence and the momentum built up with residents and key
stakeholders, resulting in reputational damage, and lead to
considerable additional cost and delay should the project
recommence, through the need to recruit and reprocure appropriate professional teams and
technical specialists.
 

d) 
It should also be noted that the majority of the
expense of bring forward such a masterplan is in the construction
of phases or buildings, not the design development required to
procure the construction. The proposed design development of the
early phases within this report will enable the Council to be in a
position to proceed with the construction of these phases, should
it wish to, but would not require the Council to progress any works
other than that associated with the meanwhile uses. The decision to
proceed with any phase can then be determined based on market
conditions and other Council priorities at the point of the
required investment in a phase or programme of delivery. These
decisions will be taken by Cabinet at the appropriate time and
include a full options appraisal.