Issue - meetings

Background:

This report sought delegated authority to officers, to authorise acquisitions of Land and Interests in connection with the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF): New Routes to Good Growth Project. Advance purchase or options to purchase the required land would enable the construction of the new road, rail infrastructure and strategic environmental management scheme (SEMS) projects to come forward and lessen reliance or negate the need for compulsory purchase powers in the future. By granting the delegation, it would enable officers to contract quickly, which was key in concluding negotiations.

The current identified land to be acquired was set out in Exempt Appendix 1 and included a budget estimate for each interest.  It was noted that this represented the current identified land required and could be subject to change on further consultation / design refinement.  The values were also based on a desktop basis as no negotiations had taken place at the time of publication.

Reasons:

Having the delegation in place will enable timely acquisition of interests, minimise delays to the project and avoid the Council needing to use its compulsory acquisition powers.