To receive any apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Targowska.

To receive any declarations of interest

None received.

To consider the Part I minutes of the meeting held on 18 January 2017

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the minutes of the meeting held on 18 January 2017 be approved.

To consider the recommendations of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel

The Chairman of the of Corporate Services O&S Panel had agreed to the urgent report being added to the agenda to allow proposals to be implemented as soon as possible.

Councillor Clark introduced the report and stated the Brocket was a Grade II listed building in a dilapidated condition and had not been used for the last seven years. It had been noted that alternative uses for the Brocket had not been considered and at that point it was decided to set up a Task and Finish Group to look at alternative uses for the Grade II listed building. The Task and Finish Group met on several occasions and the last meeting was held 21 March 2017.

The Task and Finish Group carried out an open consultation which received 150 responses and provided a steer towards possible uses for the building. The suggestions included a Hindu Community Centre, art museum, arts heritage centre apartments and artists studios. None of the responses were of a volume to give a clear preference or included any funding or proposition that would be viable. At the meeting held on 21 March 2017, the Maidenhead Heritage Trust and the Maidenhead Arts attended the meeting and were asked to produce viable options but, no submissions were made to the Task and Finish Group.

In Councillor Clarks view, there were three classes of use for the Brocket. One was the Brocket fit in with the Council’s current plans where a need was identified that fit in with a current planned operational budgeted use, however, he was not aware of any such scheme. A second use that had not be considered yet was to advertise the building for an outside project to use, but again, Councillor Clark was unaware of any such use that had come forward. The third potential option which was the default option was for the building to be developed. There had been a long consultation period which had been running since January 2017 but, that had failed to identify a specific, viable use which could be put forward to the Panel.

The Chairman expressed his thanks to the Culture and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel and to Councillor Stretton for the work that had gone into finding a suitable use for the Brocket. The Chairman queried if there was a use for the building within the Council. Alison Alexander, Managing Director confirmed that there was no use for current services within the Borough or in the future. The Chairman stated that no one had come forward with proposals for a financially supported use for the Grade II listed building. Councillor Clerk confirmed to the Panel that the building in its current state was worth approximately £1m but, after redevelopment could be worth £2.3m. The Chairman stated the net yield was 3.5% at market rent and that the revenue contribution to the RBWM Property company would be in the region of £80k per annum. He added that on the one side, there was the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

To consider the Part II minutes of the meeting held on 18 January 2017

To consider the above report