SUMMARY/PURPOSE

The Council requires to purchase land at Puckaster Farm, Niton, as part of the Castlehaven Coastal Protection Scheme. The site is required to mitigate the effects of the coastal protection scheme. Terms for the sale of this land to the Council are now being put forward by the owner and are being recommended to the Council.

BACKGROUND

This report does not appear in the Council’s Forward Plan, this is due to the willingness of the landowner to enter into an agreed lease only becoming apparent at the end of October. The decision cannot be delayed because the consents and permissions granted by various statutory bodies are restricted in time and it is necessary to start the works at the earliest opportunity.

Since the landslide in 1994 the Isle of Wight Council has been developing proposals for coastal protection works at Castlehaven. The scheme comprises the construction of a rock revetment at the base of the cliff on the foreshore, together with a deep cut-off drainage system. Although not designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, this part of the Isle of Wight Undercliff is recognised as being of high environmental importance and comprises a UK biodiversity “priority habitat”.

It is a condition of coastal protection grant aid that environmental mitigation is provided to off-set detrimental effects arising from the civil engineering works. The mitigation is the provision of land required from Puckaster Farm and adjacent frontages which will be managed for at least the next 50 years for nature conservation purposes. The land identified has been surveyed and is the only section within this part of the Undercliff that meets all the necessary environmental criteria for mitigation.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will approve the coast protection grant aid for coastal protection works at Castlehaven, but on condition that the Council acquires land at Puckaster Farm for an environmental mitigation package. Without this acquisition the works cannot proceed and some 40 properties remain vulnerable to an increasing risk of landslip.

On 18 June this year the Executive was advised of discussions with the owner of Puckaster Farm for the acquisition of the mitigation land at Puckaster Farm, Niton. In the same report Members were also advised that officers had been unable to settle terms by agreement with the landowner at that time and the Executive made a resolution to seek compulsory purchase powers for the acquisition of the land in question. This same report also gave Members details of the farm, its condition, its situation and the extent of the holding.

Since that meeting your officers have continued to discuss terms with the landowner and his representatives and more recently the landowner acquiesced to the appointment of a land agent with whom officers have negotiated terms.

The terms now being put forward by the landowner are set out in the confidential paper appended.

CONSULTATION

Consultation on this process have been with DEFRA, English Nature, the landowner and Niton Parish Council, all of whom agreed to proceed with the scheme and an informal indication has come forward that a matching grant for the premium will be recommended.

PLANNING

The dwelling is a conversion of a farm building which was granted consent on 26 November 1996 and it is to be noted that there is an agricultural occupancy restriction as detailed in planning permission TCP/2425F/S/20997 under condition 2. Part of the buildings on this property have been converted into holiday accommodation under planning permission TCP/02425/S-PO1372/98 which consent has been given for the retention of holiday accommodation subject to conditions on 27 January 1999. For information a single holiday unit was approved in January 1999 but the additional units which have appeared on site are unauthorised and have been refused planning permission (retrospective application refusal June 2002) with an enforcement notice having been served against the retention of these units on 13 August 2002.

An appeal has been lodged against the Enforcement Notice which effectively suspends any further action until that appeal has been heard.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

At this time the Council has a grant offer of £20,000 towards the acquisition of this property and officers are working to increase this grant, however if the grant remains the same then the difference in value will need to be found from the Council’s own capital resources.

The cost of land acquisition including fees will be wholly eligible for coastal protection grant aid under the Coastal Protection Act.

The ongoing management of the site can be contained within existing budget.

LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

The power to acquire the interest in this property is contained within Section 120 of the Local Government Act 1972 and the expenditure is lawful under Part 1 of the Local Government Act 2000 and the Coastal Protection Act 1949.

STRATEGIC CONTEXT

The requirement to acquire this land for mitigation is included in the Coastal Management Strategy for the Island and meets the Shoreline Management Plan in terms of improvements to the environment developing healthy and safe communities and the sustainability theme in Agenda 21. There are no known crime and disorder issues relating to this case but it is right and proper that in terms of the local community they can expect the Council to pursue the acquisition of this site, especially since Government grant has been made to protect the infrastructure of the local community.

OPTIONS APPRAISAL

The recommendation to acquire this property may result in a higher price being paid for the property right and whilst the size of this premium cannot be accurately assessed, the value to be set through a Compulsory Purchase process would use different criteria and be in a different timescale to those terms now before the Council and based on a voluntary sale in the current market.

The benefit of an agreed sale is highly likely to outweigh the additional cost as the inevitable cost delay and uncertainty of a Compulsory Purchase is avoided. Some of these potential savings are hard to qualify but the cost of a Public Inquiry is usually estimated at between £10-15,000.

OPTIONS

1. That the Council agrees the acquisition on the headline terms set out in the confidential report, subject to entry into a long lease in terms agreed by the Strategic Director of Corporate and Environment Services.

2. That the Council continues to pursue the use of compulsory purchase powers for the acquisition of land at Puckaster Farm, Niton.

REPORT TO THE EXECUTIVE

IMPLEMENTATION DATE : 29 NOVEMBER 2002

SUMMARY/PURPOSE

CONSULTATION

PLANNING

STRATEGIC CONTEXT

OPTIONS APPRAISAL