Pavilion, Sports Pitch and Ancillary Ground at Deerdykes Place, Cumbernauld
North Lanarkshire Council · 30 November 2022
Back to Finance and Resources Committee — 30 November 2022 and its agenda
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Finance and Resources Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref IM/JMcK Date 30/11/22 Pavilion, Sports Pitch and Ancillary Ground at Deerdykes Place, Cumbernauld From James McKinstry, Head of Asset & Procurement Solutions E-mail martini@northlan.gov.uk Telephone Ian Martin 07966 397637 Executive Summary The purpose of this report is to seek consent to declare the pavilion, sports pitch and ancillary land at Deerdykes Place, Cumbernauld surplus to Council requirements. The ground occupied by the pavilion and sports pitch have been designated as “proposed business site” within the North Lanarkshire Local Development Plan, which was adopted on 6 July 2022. This ground could therefore be used for expansion of the existing adjacent industrial estate into this area, subject to relevant statutory consents being obtained. Recommendations It is recommended that the Finance and Resources Committee: (1) Consider the contents of this report. (2) Note that an objection been received from a Local Elected Member and a response is detailed in section 2.3.1. (3) Agree the proposal to declare the pavilion, sports pitch and ancillary land surplus to Council requirements and refer the matter to the Council’s Estates Team to determine the future use of the site. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve economic opportunities and outcomes Ambition statement (3) Maximise the use of our marketable land and assets through improved development in business and industrial infrastructure
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1. Background 1.1 The sports pitch and adjacent land at Deerdykes Place, Cumbernauld occupy an area of land extending to 8.12 acres or thereby, identified on the plan at Appendix 1 in this report. 1.2 The pavilion is currently in a state of disrepair. The sports pitch is a blaes pitch and therefore does not meet current standards for sports pitch provision, per Sportscotland guidance. The blaes pitch has not been used through a formal booking in several years and was compromised to some extent by the widening of the M80 Motorway a number of years ago when some of the land to the eastern end of the pitch was acquired by Scottish Ministers for road upgrades. 1.3 The Council’s Estates team promoted re-designation of this unused site through the Call for Sites exercise as part the North Lanarkshire Local Development Plan process. The site was subsequently successfully designated as “proposed business site” within the new North Lanarkshire Local Development Plan which was adopted on 6 July 2022. It could therefore potentially allow expansion of the industrial estate into this area, subject to relevant planning and building consents being obtained. 1.4 Sale of the ground by the Council has the potential to realise a significant capital receipt and would result in investment and further employment opportunities in the Cumbernauld area. 1.5 A local business has already expressed an interest in acquisition of this site to allow expansion of their existing business, with the potential for job creation. 2. Report 2.1 The pavilion, sports pitches and adjacent ground are not considered to be of current or future use to Active & Creative Communities. They are therefore surplus to the requirements of Active & Creative Communities. 2.2 The Council’s Estates Team have received some initial interest in the ground being developed for expansion of the industrial estate. 2.3 Local Members within the Council Ward in which the land is located have been consulted on the proposal to declare the pavilion, pitch and ground surplus to the requirements of Active & Creative Communities. One local Member has objected to the proposal to declare the property and land surplus to requirements and therefore the matter requires to be remitted to the Council’s Finance & Resources Committee to determine whether to declare the land surplus to Council requirements or not. 2.3.1 A summary of the Member concerns and responses to these points are detailed below. • Loss of green space, suggestion to conserve the area and link it to Broadwood Loch. Loss of habitat for wildlife. A significant portion of the site is red blaes. The site is physically separated from Broadwood Loch by Westfield Industrial Estate and Westfield Road. It is acknowledged that there would be loss of open space if the site were to be developed. However, the Council’s Planning Service would consider this against the relevant planning policy and any loss of trees (for example) could be addressed by way of a scheme of compensatory planting on the remaining adjacent ground.
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• Lack of quality play spaces for local children and potential for the site ground to be developed as a play area, rather than more industrial units. The Council’s Planning Service would have considered the amount of open space and play areas available in the locality when designating the site for business use in the Local Development Plan. • Availability of existing industrial units in the area which are not fully occupied, therefore why should more be built and take away green space. The industrial property market is currently buoyant, and availability of good industrial land for development is at a premium. A local company has already expressed interest in the site thereby promoting local business growth and potential employment in the town. However, this would be considered separately to this consultation process. • The pitch has been allowed to deteriorate over many years. Local amateur football clubs are struggling to find space for lets, could the Council partner with clubs to invest and bring it back into use? Being red blaes, the pitch was already infrequently used when the Scottish Ministers compulsorily acquired adjacent land from the Council to allow the A80/M80 upgrade in 2010, thereby reducing the circulation space around the Eastern edge of the pitch. It is understood that the pitch has been unused since. As noted at 2.1 above, the pavilion, sports pitch and adjacent ground are not considered to be of current or future use to Active & Creative Communities. • There are long waiting lists for allotments and the Scottish Government have an emphasis on the food growing strategy. Has any consideration has been given to the suitability of this land for community allotments? Since the site has been promoted as suitable for business use through the Local Development Plan, and successfully designated as such, the use of the site as allotments has not been considered. However, the officer who works on the Council’s food growing strategy is currently working with the Council’s property teams to identify a potentially suitable site within Cumbernauld for allotments to support the food growing strategy. 2.4 Comments and an objection to the surplus proposal were also received jointly from an MSP and MP. It should be noted that this is not as a result of consultation, since only Local Members are consulted as part of the surplus process. However, for transparency these concerns are detailed, along with responses and proposed mitigation where appropriate. • The land should not be used as Business Space. The sites were designated as suitable for Business Space in the new Local Development Plan, adopted in July 2022. As part of the LDP process, the council’s planning service undertook detailed and thorough consultations in relation to proposed uses. The sale of the land for a business use will enable and support business growth and expansion by way of investment in the local economy, with the potential to create additional jobs.
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• The land should be retained for leisure use, preferably allotments. Cumbernauld already offers allotments in Cumbernauld Village, at Cumbernauld Town Park and at Cumbernauld House. The council’s officer who works on the council’s food growing strategy is currently working with the council’s property teams to identify a potentially suitable site within Cumbernauld for allotments to support the food growing strategy. • Other leisure uses such as grass or astroturf pitch, or a community garden, should be considered. All of the above will require significant capital investment. Sale of the land will generate a capital receipt to the council. In determining the site as suitable for a business use, the council’s planning service will have considered existing levels of green space and pitch provision. 3. Measures of success 3.1 The future sale of the land by the Council with a view to expansion of the industrial estate in order to enable additional investment and employment opportunities in the Cumbernauld area, in addition to generating a capital receipt to the council. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 – Location Plan James McKinstry Head of Asset & Procurement Solutions
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5. Impacts ( http://connect/report-template-guidance ) 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality-and-fairer- scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Financial Solutions? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If the land were to be sold this would generate a significant capital receipt to the council. 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People and Organisational Development? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic Solutions? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐
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5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for technology, has an assessment been carried out (or scheduled) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Development of the site would result in some loss of open space and trees. The loss of trees could be addressed by way of a scheme of compensatory planting to enhance the biodiversity of the remaining adjacent land. 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed?
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Appendix 1 – Location Plan