Issue - meetings

Background:

The Cabinet agreed to accept this report as urgent to enable consideration of the matter at the earliest opportunity (the next scheduled Cabinet meeting was due to take place on 12 January 2021) to allow timely consideration of the two linked planning applications.

This report provided an update on the progress of a housing development on the Queen Street and Slicketts Hill car park site. The report explained that the Council had entered into a legal agreement with a developer, Creval to secure the redevelopment of the site, with the retention of public parking. After a Design Review Panel and two informal presentations to Members, a planning application for a residential scheme with 178 new homes had now been submitted for the proposal.

As a means to deliver the 45 affordable homes as part of this scheme the report proposed that Cabinet agree to commission Medway Development Company Ltd to deliver it on the basis that agreement had been reached in principle with MHS to acquire the site on completion.

Exempt appendices 1 and 2 to the report set out amendments to the legal agreement with Creval and draft Heads of Terms for a legal agreement with MHS.

Reasons:

The Council has a housing company that is building a reputation for completing schemes on time and on budget.