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Asset Disposal: Former CALAT Coulsdon, Malcolm Road and Barrie Close site (Coulsdon Community Centre)

Meeting: 20/09/2021 - Scrutiny & Overview Committee (Item 78)

78 CALL-IN: Asset Disposal: Former CALAT Coulsdon, Malcolm Road and Barrie Close site (Coulsdon Community Centre) pdf icon PDF 149 KB

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee is asked to consider and respond to the Call-In in accordance with the procedure set out in the Council’s constitution.

Specifically, the Committee is asked to consider whether the decision was taken outside of policy framework, for the reasons set out in the call-in request.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee considered a call-in request of the key decision set out in the ‘Asset Disposal: Former Calat Couldson, Malcolm Road and Barrie Close Site (Coulsdon Community Centre)’ Cabinet report. The decision was taken by the Cabinet Member for Resources & Financial Governance in consultation with the Leader of the Council on 31 August 2021.

The Chair of the Committee explained the process for considering a call-in, confirming that the Committee needed to agree whether to review the decision or not and if it was decided to proceed, to confirm how much time it wished to allocate for the discussion of the item. The Committee agreed that it would review the decision and allocated one and a half hours for its consideration.

The Chair went on to explain that there were three outcomes the Committee could reach as a result of its review. These were:-

1.    That no further action was necessary and the decision could be implemented as originally intended.

2.    To refer the decision back to the Cabinet for reconsideration, outlining the nature of the Committee’s concerns

3.    To refer the decision to Council, if the Committee considered that the decision taken was outside of the Budget and Policy Framework.

At the outset of the item the Committee lead on the call-in, The Chair, Councillor Sean Fitzsimons, outlined the grounds for its submission. It was highlighted that in February 2021, the Committee gave its support to the Interim Asset Disposal Strategy which listed the sites being considered for disposal. The strategy indicated that disposal of the former Calat Centre site was predicated on a replacement community centre being provided. There was concern that the Cabinet report on the disposal lacked sufficient information on the future plans for the two linked sites, to provide reassurance to the local community on the provision of a replacement community centre.

The process for asset disposal set out in the strategy made it clear that there was several steps that needed to be taken before any asset disposal was agreed and the Committee was keen to ensure that the process had been followed. Finally the call-in also sought to test whether it was in the Council’s best interest to either retain or sell the asset.

Following the introduction, Stephen Wingrave, Head of Asset Management and Estates and Councillor Stuart King, the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Croydon Renewal were given the opportunity to explain the reasons for proceeding with the asset disposal. It was highlighted that the site proposal had been in use as a temporary car park while the Lime Green Road car park had been closed to the public. The income generated during that period was approximately £1,244 which demonstrated low usage.

An external valuation had been carried out of the site which had indicated that the proposal put forward to dispose of the asset was the best solution for the Council. The lack of business case in the Cabinet report to justify the decision was acknowledged and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78