The meeting of Surrey County Council's Cabinet Member for Property, Waste and Infrastructure Decisions on 17 December 2024 will include a proposal to sell a plot of land on Deepdene Avenue in Dorking. The meeting may also consider excluding the press and public for some of the later items on the agenda.

Disposal of Land at Spital Heath, Deepdene Avenue, Dorking

The Cabinet Member will be asked to approve the sale of a 0.4 acre plot of land on Deepdene Avenue, Dorking that the council owns. The land is adjacent to three houses and a 0.85 acre plot of land that are owned by the Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner, and which are also for sale. Both plots of land were advertised for sale together by Vail Williams, and marketed as suitable for residential development.

The report notes that:

The Council has had an opportunity to facilitate an added value, disposal opportunity alongside its public sector stakeholder, the Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner.

The report asks the Cabinet Member to approve the sale in principle, subject to contract and to delegate the final decision about the sale to Diane Wilding, the council's Director of Land and Property.

The report notes that The Council previously agreed to sell the land at a meeting on 29 October 2024:

Cabinet has previously endorsed rationalisation of the surplus estate. (Appendix 1 Joint Marketing Surplus Declaration - Decisions Tuesday 29-Oct-2024)

It describes the land as landlocked and explains that because of this:

The opportunity has arisen to combine the SCC land with the Police land to market jointly and to enable the disposal of what would otherwise remain a SCC owned landlocked asset. (Appendix 1 Joint Marketing Surplus Declaration - Decisions Tuesday 29-Oct-2024)

The report sets out a number of risks associated with the sale, which it says will be mitigated by making any sale conditional on the buyer receiving planning permission.

It explains that the sale will help the council to meet its objective of financial sustainability because:

Local authorities across the country are experiencing significant budgetary pressures ... This requires an increased focus on financial management to protect service delivery, a continuation of the need to deliver financial efficiencies and reduce spending in order to achieve a balanced budget position each year. (CMDDeepdene Avenue DorkingSpital Heath Report - Part 1 FINAL)

The report says that because the land is currently maintained by the council's Highways team, the sale will save money. It does not say how much the land costs to maintain, or how much money the council expects to save.