Purpose

To tidy up the titles following the completion of the Honeycroft development in Lawford, whilst removing the ongoing liability and additional cost of repairing/repurposing the former service building.
Tendring District Council own a piece of land with a building on it that housed all the services, tanks and meters etc for the previous sheltered accommodation building that sat to the north of the Honeycroft site, fronting Waldegrave Way. This is shown edged red on the plan in Appendix A and includes some adjacent land in order to straighten up the boundary.
To the east of the Honeycroft site there were some off road parking bays not owned by TDC. These bays were included in the design and redevelopment of the Honeycroft site as part of the off road parking and access from Nicholls Close to the 3 new properties that front that road. This land is shown edged blue on the plan in Appendix A
Negotiations for the disposal of the land off Waldegrave Way and the acquisition of the land off Nichols Close have been completed with a straight swap agreed. The use of the land in Nichols Close will be unrestricted, however the use of the building off Waldegrave Way will be restricted to storage only. Covenants in the Transfer Deed will reflect this and protect the Council’s future position.

Decision

To agree terms for the acquisition of land off Nicholls Close, Lawford and the disposal of land off Waldegrave Way, Lawford, and complete the legal Transfer for each transaction on the agreed terms set out in Appendix B to the report.

Alternative options considered

Not acquiring the land in Nichols Close – this would impact the already completed development.
Purchasing Nichols Close land and retaining the old service building – the old building offers no benefit to TDC and would likely sit vacant and deteriorate further. Purchasing the land without using the service building as payment would require further financial investment by TDC.