Decision details

(Time: 3.28pm to 3.30pm)

The Executive received and considered an agenda report regarding a request from Wantage Silver Band and Wantage Concords Football Club for an agreement to build/conditional lease which, subject to funding, would create a 99 year ground lease on an area of land measuring approximately half an acre.  Principal terms and conditions for the lease had been provisionally agreed, subject to appropriate authorisation.  The funding position had not yet been determined.  Both organisations required an agreement to build/conditional lease in order to qualify for grant funding. 

The report set out the main heads of terms which included a nominal rent.  The land was to be used solely for the construction and subsequent occupancy of a community hall to be used primarily by the Wantage Silver Band in whose name the lease would be granted.  A portion of the hall might be used for Wantage Concords Football Club as changing rooms.  The premises would only be used for community or charity purposes.  A finite time period would form part of the agreement for the organisations to secure the necessary funding. 

The Executive noted that the grant of a lease was conditional on obtaining consent of the superior landlord Oxfordshire County Council, obtaining planning consent, securing funding, and creating a pedestrian and vehicular access to the property and providing service conduits.  The Vale’s reasonable valuation and legal costs, together with other fees and disbursements, would be borne by the Wantage Silver Band. 

The Executive considered that the lease should be granted on the terms set out in the agenda.  Members thanked the Head of Property for the progress made.  In answer to a question from a Member, the Head of Property reported that he had not seen a recent e-mail regarding a neighbour's right of access over the land at Tugwell Fields and had requested that a copy document, if it existed, was supplied. 

RESOLVED  (by seven votes to nil)

(a)               that an agreement to build/conditional lease is granted to Wantage Silver Band and Wantage Concords Football Club upon the terms and conditions set out in the agenda report.  The agreement to build/lease to be granted conditional upon sufficient funding being raised to complete the development;

(b)               that authority be delegated to the Chief Executive to vary and or amend the stated terms and conditions as occasion demands;

(c)               that no financial burden falls to this Council in facilitating the scheme; and

(d)               that the precise extent of the land to be leased, particularly in relation to the provision of car parking, be determined once the financial position of the respective organisations becomes clearer, together with such reserved rights as the Council may require.