Agenda item

To receive and consider a request to purchase amenity land.

This item was moved up the agenda with the express permission of the Chair, in order that Mr Guy could hear the debate.

The Committee received and considered the report of the Office Manager and the documentation supplied by Mr Guy.

Whilst the recent precedent of the Council had been not to sell amenity land, Mr Guy made a compelling argument and some members favoured selling the land as he had said that he would maintain it as part of his garden and would include a vegetable patch.

Some members were concerned about the fact that this would effectively enclose a narrow footpath and that the area in question currently provided a useful passing place – especially during social distancing. 

Members also discussed the fact that if the land was sold, it would need to have a condition that it could not be built on imposed.

After further discussion members decided that they needed to understand what implications any sale may have on other areas of amenity land near to housing. 

Members also wanted to look at the planning conditions associated with 10A as this house had been built in the grounds of number 10 Burwell Close.

Once this had been done the request could be reconsidered at the next meeting, and if provisional agreement on the sale was reached, officers would need to undertake further work to present this to the Policy, Governance and Finance Committee.

RECOMMENDED:             that the request be noted and:-

i)             that the Committee looks at the pieces of land owned by the Town Council to assess what the impact would be if the land was sold and other requests were then forthcoming;

ii)            that the Planning application is checked for any covenants;

iii)           that the request is revisited at the meeting of this committee on 3 November. A site visit by the Chair and Vice Chair may be appropriate.