Agenda item

The Leader, or their nominee, to answer questions from Councillors on matters affecting the Borough, in accordance with Standing Order 14.

One question has been received from a member (as per attached).

The Mayor reported that one general question had been received, in accordance with Standing Order 15, from Councillor Boughtflower:

“Given this Council could be in a better financial position, will the artificial constraints (excluding the 14 stories height limit) on developing the Oast House site be removed, as the extra development potential could bring in significant extra funds. The extra dwellings would also make up our housing shortfall created by the loss of 30 plus dwellings, because of the Environment Agency’s objections and meeting the Government’s aspirations on housing developments.

Will this matter be put on the next available committee meeting agenda to be debated and voted upon?”

The Chair of the Business, Infrastructure and Growth Committee, Councillor Williams, provided the following response:

“The short answer is that we can’t build a fourteen-storey building on the Oast House site because the Oast House is a listed building and you can’t just stick a fourteen-storey extension onto a listed building.

I’m guessing the question really relates to Kingston Road Car Park, which is the land adjoining the Oast House. This requires a slightly longer answer.

In its many meeting on this matter, the Council has for a long time deliberately differentiated between the two sites when planning any development. One is a listed building, which limits what can be done to it. The other is basically a piece of bare land and presents a blank piece of paper on which the Council can draw up its plans.

However, there is at least one false assumption in this question and there are numerous reasons why the Council would not act on the suggestion implied in the question, ie to build higher.

1.    It is wrong to assume that a larger development would produce a better financial outcome for the Council. In fact, the history of Spelthorne’s construction projects shows quite the opposite. The more each project has grown, the bigger the losses have been,

2.    You will recall that one of the first actions this Council took after the election was to stop trying to deliver these construction projects directly itself, instead adopting a model whereby the Council will work with partners who are expert in the field. So in some ways the final configuration is not entirely within the gift of the Council. The most we can do it to exert some control by leasing the land instead of selling it.

3.    We need to listen to our residents. Once of the reasons for the downfall of the previous administration was its determination to act like a property developer instead of a Local Authority. Residents made it very clear that they opposed the building of high-rise tower blocks, but feel they were ignored. The new administration is putting residents first and trying to limit heights rather than increasing them; and

4.    In the ranking of the dozen or so construction projects the Council is considering, Kingston Road Car Park is considered a mid/long term project, meaning 3-8 years away.

You will recall that Councillors recently received a presentation about two new proposals to connect Staines Town Centre to Heathrow terminal 5 with a new railway line, Once is called Heathrow Southern Rail of HSR, and is being promoted by a private consortium and is supported by Heathrow Airport Ltd. The second is called Southern Light Rail, or SLR and is being promoted by our own Chief Executive alongside our Head of Place, Protection and Prosperity. Indeed the Head of Place, Protection and Prosperity delivered the SLR presentation to Councillors recently. We expect we might get a decision from central government on which option it supports in the next 3-8 years too, so our proposed timing for any development of Kingston Road Car Park matches the decision making timing on these railway links to Heathrow.

One common denominator in both of these competing proposals is that they will both increase demand for car parking capacity near Staines Railway Station, which is of course only a stone’s throw away from Kingston Road Car Park. So, it may well turn out to be that the best use of Kingston Road Car Park is in fact a car park.

I trust that this answers the question”.