Agenda and minutes

Information on public speaking is available online

There was no public speaking.

The notes of the meeting held on 29 November 2018 and 17 January 2019 were agreed.

Apologies were received from Cllr Iain Chubb.

Guidance is available online to Councillors and co-opted members on making declarations of interest

Councillor Geoff Pook

Minute 47

Disclosable Personal Interest – Chairman of Beer Parish Council

Information on matters of urgency is available online

There were no matters of urgency.

To agree any items to be dealt with after the public (including the press) have been excluded. Thereare no itemswhich officersrecommendshould be dealtwithin thisway.

RESOLVED that the classification given to the documents to be submitted to the Sub-Committee be confirmed and that the report relating to exempt information be dealt with under Part B of the agenda.

The Forum was presented with the latest version of the Performance Dashboard. Tim Child, Senior Manager - Property and Estates, directed familiarise the Forum to the key areas, highlighting:

·  Capital receipts had increased to £180,750 an increase of £58,500 and with a further £92,500 in the pipeline for this financial year and being progressed with Legal;

·  There were a particularly high number of open reactive maintenance and facilities management related cases on Lagan. This is due to a large number of instructions put out to external contractors and still needing closing. During the recent period the Property Services Maintenance Technicians had been working on Blackdown House;

·  Planned maintenance costs were currently below budget, but reactive maintenance costs above. Some recoding was needed but broadly these are expected to balance;

·  The Seaton Workshops project had slipped, due to lack of officer time. However, it was hoped that the project would be prioritised and project group meetings and progress being made before next AMF;                                                                                                                       

Comments made on the dashboard included a proposal that the future report for this item should include key legends to help explain the rental chart.

ACTION      For future meetings issue the Performance Dashboard to Members with the key legends clearly viewable on the report    .

RESOLVED that the Performance Dashboard be welcomed and continue   to be provided as a standing item for future meetings of the Forum.

The latest Newsletter had been circulated beforehand to members of the Forum to consider. This and future Newsletters is no longer a confidential document and is available to all Councillors.

The purpose of the Newsletter was to raise awareness of the breadth of work undertaken by Property & Estates but also to promote the breadth and importance of the Council’s land and property portfolio.

RESOLVED 1. that the content of the Property Matters Newsletter be noted;

                     2. that Property & Estates be congratulated for producing the Property Matters Newsletter.

The Forum noted that EDDC continued to work with Beer ~Parish Council to prepare a robust business case to allow the transfer of assets at Beer to take place at no extra cost in the medium term to EDDC, mitigating future cost liabilities on EDDC and facilitating local management and ‘ownership’ of assets’. The Senior Manager – Property & Estates reported that there had been a meeting last week with Beer Parish Council, which had a positive outcome, but there were still a few issues being considered.

A report would be prepared for consideration by Cabinet, including a business case, in due course.

In response to a question for a Member regarding the devolution of assets to other Town and Parish Councils, the Deputy Chief Executive reported that once all the data and assets available had been identified, then the Council would be in a position to go to Town and Parish Councils to see if they wanted to take on assets within their parish areas.

It was anticipated that a draft Community Asset Transfer Policy would be produced in due course and would be consulted on with Town and Parish Councils.

RESOLVED that the update on the Beer Pilot be noted.

“that under Section (00)(A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1072 the public (including the press) be excluded from the meeting as exempt information, of the description set out on the agenda, is likely to be disclosed and on balance the public interest is in discussing this item in private session (Part B)”

“that under Section 100 (A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public (including the press) be excluded from the meeting as exempt information, of the description set out on the agenda, I likely to be disclosed and on balance the public interest is in discussing this item in private session (Part B)”.

Reason for consideration in Part B: Para 3 Schedule 12A Information relating to the finance or business affairs of any particular person

Consideration was given to a report updating Members on the outcome of the marketing exercise and selection process for the Drill Hall site in Sidmouth and to make a recommendation for the selection of the preferred developer.

The Forum agreed that the preferred developer and the proposed business, Offer 2, was the best choice available and a very suitable sort of business for the area. Members were also made aware that a future refurbishment of the Drill Hall might also take in the adjacent toilet block as well. Members noted that the Core Group, who selected the preferred bidder, consisted of two Sidmouth District Councillors and Sidmouth Town Council.

The Forum wished to thank the Core Group and Officers involved for their work on the marketing and selection process for the preferred bidder for the Drill Hall site in Sidmouth.                                                                                                                                                                

RESOLVED that having discussed the content of the Cabinet report and its Annexes,  the Forum concurred with the report’s recommendation that Offer 2 be approved as the preferred bidder for the site.