News: Objections withdrawn to Rotherham CPO
A legal inquiry into a compulsory purchase order (CPO) required to progress a Rotherham regeneration project was over before it began with all landowners previously against the council's order withdrawing their objections.
Backed by £11m in Government funding, the scheme at Dinnington aims to address blight in the town centre and boost the local economy. The funding will facilitate clearance of the burnt out and derelict buildings on the high street and pave the way for a new attractive town square, with purpose built commercial units to diversify the local offer.
With the council unable to acquire the properties required to deliver the scheme, a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) was issued earlier this year which revealed that the authority was talking to the Government about extending the spending on the project from 2026 to 2028.
The order was published by Rotherham Council in January 2025 with the inquiry due to hear from the authority and legal firms representing landowners this week.
The Council received five objections to the order.
Strangely, one objection was from South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA), which was withdrawn in April. Initial legal papers showed that those against the order included the Nixon family (regarding the outdoor market), Roy Mugglestone, Yvonne Mugglestone and William Carrol (regarding the indoor market) and Cobani Property Limited (regarding 50 Laughton Road).
As the inquiry was due to begin (July 1), the Nixon family / Paylet Ltd was the only party remaining but the local MP, Jake Richards, who attended the inquiry as an interested party, has now confirmed that he was "really happy to say that all objectors have withdrawn."
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£11m in funding for the project was allocated by the Government in March 2023 and the funding agreement was received in June 2023 when Rotherham Council's cabinet approved the start of the scheme. A further £1m in council funding was allocated to the project in July 2024.
Documents submitted to the inquiry show that those with leasehold and freehold interests in the Laughton Road and market areas were contacted back in 2022 but since April 2023, market value offers from the council to purchase remaining interests were not agreed to. Negotiations continued right up until the inquiry and offers were made "based on the compensation that the vendor would be entitled to if their property were acquired pursuant to a confirmed compulsory purchase order."
A CPO is considered a last resort. The Government grants powers to enable acquiring authorities to compulsorily purchase land to carry out a function which Parliament has decided is in the public interest. Tribunals are often used to judge the levels of compensation for compulsary purchased land.
Legal papers show that landowners and operators of the outdoor market were seeking a sale and leaseback of the land with a licence to continue to operate the market.
The Council’s scheme has been designed to include an outdoor market presence in an improved location and environment, one which is designed to limit the prevalence of anti-social behaviour and provide dedicated welfare and storage facilities.
The council were unable to offer a condition that Paylet would operate the new market but the council state that it "has sought to keep an outdoor market presence in the area and to that end has offered terms to Ms Nixon to retain and even expand their provision in the town."
The council's representative at property consultancy, Gateley Hamer, stated that: "The gap between the sum that Paylet wanted, and the sum that I have assessed on compensation code terms was significant."
Objections from the Nixon family, since withdrawn, stated that: "Offers made were inadequate and did not reflect the true value of the property or the operational disruption the acquisition would cause" and that the council did not genuinely exhaust all reasonable efforts to acquire the property.
But it now appears that a deal has been done and the project can now progress with the acquisition of all of the property required.
Images: RMBC / AHR
Backed by £11m in Government funding, the scheme at Dinnington aims to address blight in the town centre and boost the local economy. The funding will facilitate clearance of the burnt out and derelict buildings on the high street and pave the way for a new attractive town square, with purpose built commercial units to diversify the local offer.
With the council unable to acquire the properties required to deliver the scheme, a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) was issued earlier this year which revealed that the authority was talking to the Government about extending the spending on the project from 2026 to 2028.
The order was published by Rotherham Council in January 2025 with the inquiry due to hear from the authority and legal firms representing landowners this week.
The Council received five objections to the order.
Strangely, one objection was from South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA), which was withdrawn in April. Initial legal papers showed that those against the order included the Nixon family (regarding the outdoor market), Roy Mugglestone, Yvonne Mugglestone and William Carrol (regarding the indoor market) and Cobani Property Limited (regarding 50 Laughton Road).
As the inquiry was due to begin (July 1), the Nixon family / Paylet Ltd was the only party remaining but the local MP, Jake Richards, who attended the inquiry as an interested party, has now confirmed that he was "really happy to say that all objectors have withdrawn."
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£11m in funding for the project was allocated by the Government in March 2023 and the funding agreement was received in June 2023 when Rotherham Council's cabinet approved the start of the scheme. A further £1m in council funding was allocated to the project in July 2024.
Documents submitted to the inquiry show that those with leasehold and freehold interests in the Laughton Road and market areas were contacted back in 2022 but since April 2023, market value offers from the council to purchase remaining interests were not agreed to. Negotiations continued right up until the inquiry and offers were made "based on the compensation that the vendor would be entitled to if their property were acquired pursuant to a confirmed compulsory purchase order."
A CPO is considered a last resort. The Government grants powers to enable acquiring authorities to compulsorily purchase land to carry out a function which Parliament has decided is in the public interest. Tribunals are often used to judge the levels of compensation for compulsary purchased land.
The Council’s scheme has been designed to include an outdoor market presence in an improved location and environment, one which is designed to limit the prevalence of anti-social behaviour and provide dedicated welfare and storage facilities.
The council were unable to offer a condition that Paylet would operate the new market but the council state that it "has sought to keep an outdoor market presence in the area and to that end has offered terms to Ms Nixon to retain and even expand their provision in the town."
The council's representative at property consultancy, Gateley Hamer, stated that: "The gap between the sum that Paylet wanted, and the sum that I have assessed on compensation code terms was significant."
Objections from the Nixon family, since withdrawn, stated that: "Offers made were inadequate and did not reflect the true value of the property or the operational disruption the acquisition would cause" and that the council did not genuinely exhaust all reasonable efforts to acquire the property.
But it now appears that a deal has been done and the project can now progress with the acquisition of all of the property required.
Images: RMBC / AHR
1 comments:
Big brown envelopes fix EVERYTHING.
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