Keeping Keighley town centre site as green space could have ‘significant financial implications’ – according to report
USING the site of a planned health hub in Keighley as an area of green space would cause the Council to “default” on a grant agreement, and potentially cost the taxpayer millions.
Today members of Bradford Council’s Executive will discuss a petition relating to a plot of Council owned land on North Street.
It was once the site of Keighley College, but after the College re-located the Council purchased the site in 2006 using a £4.1 million grant from regional development agency Yorkshire Forward.
The current plans for the site are for it to be home to a multi million pound health hub for the town.
The former college buildings have been demolished, and the site turned into a temporary public green space.
Earlier this year Keighley residents called for the health hub plans for the site to be scrapped. Over 1,900 people signed a petition calling for the land to become a permanent public green space.
This petition will be discussed at a meeting this morning.
A report to the Council’s Executive has revealed that should the park be retained, Homes England, the Government body that succeeded Yorkshire Forward, would see this as breaking the agreement the Council signed when it awarded it the grant.
A report to the Executive says: “In order to secure the funding package, the Council entered into an agreement with Yorkshire Forward dated August 31 2006 which, amongst other matters, sets out the obligations of the Council on the future use of the sites and any proceeds of sale.”
Robbie Moore MP: ‘Former college site should be kept as open green space for all to enjoy’
It says any land purchased with the grant would need to either
– further the economic development and regeneration of Yorkshire and the Humber.
– promote business efficiency, investment and competitiveness in the area
– promote employment in the area
– enhance the development application of skills relevant to employment in the area
– contribute to the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom.
The Council wrote to Homes England to ask if the public green space would fall into any of these categories, and Homes England responded in September.
The report adds: “Homes England would be unlikely to support the Council bringing forward a public open space scheme at the property. This action would likely be treated as an event of default and would entitle Homes England to follow the termination mechanism under the funding agreement and pursue against the Council the various remedies available.”
These “remedies” could include ordering the Council to sell the land to Homes England for £1 or put the site on the open market – and give any money from the sale to Homes England.
They could also “claw back” the £4.1 million they gave the Council to buy the site.
The report adds: “Whilst the Council has not made formal request to HE for the future use of the land as green space, the HE’s response to the Council’s initial enquiry provides a clear indication that such a request would likely be rejected. If the Council were to proceed, HE would seek legal remedy which would have significant financial implications for the Council.
“If HE required clawback of the entire amount of the grant the cost would be significant for the Council. In addition, the Council would also suffer severe reputational damage by being in breach of the Agreement that involved the provision of Government grant funding for specific purposes.”
The report goes on to say that if the site were sold, the Council would have no control over the future of the town centre site.
The meeting takes place at 10.30am today.
