Minute of Meeting of Perth and Kinross Council of 4 September 2024 for Approval
Perth and Kinross Council · 30 October 2024
Back to Perth and Kinross Council — 30 October 2024 and its agenda
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PERTH AND KINROSS COUNCIL Minute of hybrid meeting of Perth and Kinross Council held in the Council Chamber, 2 High Street, Perth on Wednesday 4 September 2024 at 9.30am. Present: Provost X McDade, Depute Provost A Parrott, Bailies C Ahern, A Bailey, R Brock, C McLaren and M Williamson, Councillors K Allan, H Anderson L Barrett, P Barrett, B Brawn, S Carr, A Chan, D Cuthbert, S Donaldson, E Drysdale, J Duff, A Forbes, M Frampton, N Freshwater, K Harvey, D Illingworth, I James, N Khogali, G Laing, I MacPherson, I Massie, S McCole, T McEwan, J Rebbeck, W Robertson, C Shiers, F Smith, C Stewart, G Stewart, R Watters and J Welch. In Attendance: T Glen, Chief Executive; C Mailer, Director – Strategy, People and Resources; L Simpson, Strategic Lead – Legal and Governance; D Littlejohn Strategic Lead – Economy, Development and Planning; S Crawford Strategic Lead – Property Services; S Walker Strategic Lead – Finance and Business Support; E Ritchie, Strategic Lead – Housing and Communities; J Pepper, Chief Officer, Health and Social Care Partnership; A Farnington, S MacDonald, K Fleming, N Moran, J Fyfe, S Hendry, G Fogg, S Morkis, L Potter, A Brown and M Pasternak (all Strategy, People and Resources). Also in Attendance: W Purdie (The Urbanists) (up to Item 6), P Cromwell (Live Active Leisure), N Scott (Integratis Consulting) Provost X McDade, Presiding. 1. WELCOME AND APOLOGIES Provost McDade welcomed all those present to the meeting. 2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST In terms of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct, Councillors Brawn and Carr and Bailie McLaren declared a connection in relation to Item 6 on the agenda. 3. DEPUTATIONS The Council resolved to hear deputations in relation to part 2 of Item 6 on the agenda. 4. MINUTE OF MEETING OF PERTH AND KINROSS COUNCIL OF 26 JUNE 2024 FOR APPROVAL The minute of meeting of Perth and Kinross Council of 26 June 2024 was submitted and approved as a correct record.
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5. MOTION ON UK SUCCESS AT 2024 PARIS OLYMPICS Motion by Councillors B Brawn and K Allan To Congratulate Team GB on its success at the Paris Olympics That this Council recognises the success of the British Olympic Team - Team GB - and sends our wholehearted congratulations on their fantastic achievement at gaining a tally of sixty-five medals. Their dedication and commitment to compete and strive to win will inevitably inspire many more to become the next generation of athletes looking to compete themselves at world class level. Resolved: In accordance with the Motion 6. PERTH CITY CENTRE DEVELOPMENT AND DESIGN FRAMEWORK CONSULTATION DRAFT There was submitted a report by Strategic Lead – Economy, Development and Planning (24/241) seeking Council approval to commence public consultation over the autumn on a range of development proposals and design principles that will help drive forward the vision for Perth as one of Europe’s great small cities. This vision is articulated in Perth 2040: Our agenda for Change produced by the former Perth City Development Board and endorsed by the Council in December 2019 (report 19/360 refers). Resolved: (i) The draft City Centre Development & Design Framework (Appendix 1) be approved for consultation and engagement with the public and stakeholders including the business community. (ii) The findings of a study commissioned to inform the Framework by assessing customer and occupier demand in Perth city centre (Appendix 2) be noted. (iii) Officers be remitted to design and implement a consultation and engagement programme over the autumn. (iv) The Strategic Lead – Economy, Development & Planning to bring back a revised version of the framework incorporating suggested changes for further consideration along with a delivery programme. THERE FOLLOWED A SHORT BREAK AND THE MEETING RECONVENED AT 10.48AM.
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7. PERTH CITY INTEGRATED INVESTMENT PROPOSAL There was submitted a report by Strategic Lead – Property Services (24/242): (1) Implementing the instructions of Council in relation to : • the future use of Pullar House in anticipation of the Public Finance Initiative (PFI) Project Agreement coming to an end in September 2025 (Report 23/268 refers). • a revised scope for PH2O with options for ice provision (Report 24/19 refers). • proposals for the future use of Bell’s Sports Centre to be used as the basis of community engagement (Report 24/151 refers). (2) Highlighting opportunities that emerge from considering these projects together which can help to answer some of the challenges set out in the Perth City Plan (Perth 2040: Our Agenda for Change) (Report 19/360 refers). (3) Setting out a series of proposals to leverage those opportunities to create additional public value for residents, visitors and businesses. Note: The Provost had confirmed that consideration of the report would be done in two parts. Firstly, recommendations 1 and 2 in the report would be considered and determined prior to a recess. Recommendations 3, 4, 5 and 6 would then be considered and determined following the recess. Part 1 – There was a slide-based presentation by C Mailer and S Crawford in relation to recommendations 1 and 2 of the report followed by questions from members. Motion by Councillors G Laing and E Drysdale Pullar House and Kinnoull Street Multi-Storey Car Park Council: Approves recommendations 1 and 2 as set out in the report, subject to amendment 2(b) (i) to insert ‘through Car Park Trading Account’ between ‘to purchase’ and ‘Kinnoull Street Multi-Storey Car Park’. Resolved: • The content of Appendix A and the associated benefits, risks and opportunities be noted. • Council commits to the creation of a Public Service Hub within Pullar House.
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• Officers be authorised: (i) to exercise the Council’s right under the terms of the PFI Project Agreement to purchase Pullar House at market value upon termination of the lease agreement; (ii) to negotiate “market value” with the landlord based on the valuations obtained by the parties, failing which to accept the market valuation as determined by an independent arbiter in accordance with the Dispute Resolution provisions within the PFI Project Agreement; and to proceed to purchase at that price; • Officers be instructed to negotiate and agree lease terms with partners for accommodation within Pullar House on an open- book, cost sharing basis. • Capital funding of £10m for the Pullar House workstream as set out in Appendix A be approved. • The content of Appendix B and the associated benefits, risks and opportunities be noted. • Officers be authorised: (i) to exercise the Council’s right under the terms of the PFI Project Agreement to purchase through the Car Park Trading Account Kinnoull Street Multi-Storey Car Park (MSCP) at market value upon termination of the lease agreement; (ii) to negotiate “market value” with the landlord based on the valuations obtained by the parties, failing which to accept the market valuation as determined by an independent arbiter in accordance with the dispute resolution provisions within the PFI Project Agreement; and to proceed to purchase at that price. THERE FOLLOWED A RECESS FOR LUNCH AND THE MEETING RECONVENED AT 1.05PM. Mr David Hay, Mr Arran Thomson, Ms Laura Watt and Mr Alan Hannah addressed Council and answered Members’ questions. Part 2 – S Crawford continued with his slide-based presentation in relation to recommendations 3, 4, 5 and 6 in the report followed by questions from members.
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Following a question and request from Councillor Laing, T Glen, Chief Executive confirmed the following: • If the decision is taken to proceed with the Thimblerow development, elected members will have early sight on the changes to parking utilisation as a result of the development, and officers will commit to monitoring the usage of all Perth city centre car parks including repeating the counting process every six months during the build and when Pullar House is being filled so that there is a moving understanding of what the car parking requirements are going to be. If at any time there is a break-even situation or demand looks like it is going to exceed the overall availability of car parking spaces in the city centre, officers will bring proposals back to elected members for identifying additional options for car parking. THERE FOLLOWED A SHORT BREAK AND THE MEETING RECONVENED AT 4.00PM. Motion by Councillors G Laing and I MacPherson PH20, PLP/Dewars, Housing and Bell’s Sports Centre. Council: Approves recommendations 3-6 as set out in the report, subject to the deletion of recommendations 4(b) and 5(b) and replacement with: 4(b) Agree that 150 new social and/or affordable homes should be developed on the existing Perth Leisure Pool (PLP) site, upon completion of the PH2O facility. 5(b) Approves Option K as the preferred option for Dewars Centre and the delivery of ice facilities in Perth city and instructs officers to undertake further engagement with local and national curling bodies and other interested community groups to explore interest in leasing the building on a full repairing and insuring basis for a user-led ice sports facility upon completion of PH2O. Council further: 3(c) Instructs officers, as part of the next stage of design work, to explore options and costs of adding leisure water to the PH2O base case within the available footprint at Thimblerow.
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First Amendment by Bailie A Bailey and Councillor J Duff Council agrees the recommendations 3-6 (inclusive) of the report with the following exceptions: Replace text at 3(b) with: (i) Reaffirms the Councils desire to include a leisure pool and ice facility as part of the new PH2O build. Requests officers to provide detailed revenue and capital costs for the adjusted base case facilities mix at Glover Street/Glasgow Road to a future Council meeting. (ii)(a) Replace the swimming pool specification in the base case facilities mix to include – o Leisure Pool (with a guide specification of two flumes, wave machine, lazy river); o 25m 6 Lane Flexi Pool (Moveable Floor); o 12.5m x 8.5m Teaching Pool (Movable Floor); with the revised base case to be delivered within the existing £90m allocation set aside within the capital budget for the PH2O project. (b) Requests officers provide costings for the inclusion of low-level diving boards in the Flexi Pool: • 1m & 3m Springboards • 3m + 5m Dive Platforms (iii) Requests officers to provide costings for the inclusion of four squash courts at the new PH2O facility to replace those formerly provided at Bells Sports Centre. (iv)Remits Council Officers to work with ice sports community representatives on revenue and capital costs for the following additional ice options: (a) a new multi-sport ice pad (that can flexibly be used for curling, skating or ice hockey) with arena seating included within the PH2O design (benefitting from the heat exchanger with swimming pool) and owned by Perth & Kinross Council; (b) a Community Asset Transfer of the Dewars Centre site to the ice sports community on long-term lease or full ownership next to the new PH2O facility (benefitting from the heat exchanger with PH2O swimming pool) to provide a third-party ice facility. (v)Remits Council Officers/Live Active Leisure to explore sponsorship opportunities/grant funding support for the new PH2O facility or parts of the building such as the ice arena.
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(vi)Requests detailed advice from officers regarding: 1. options to build the new PH2O facility on part of the car park at the Glover Street whilst maintaining operations at Perth Leisure Pool and Dewars Centre and if this is not possible then provide options for alternative provision of displaced services e.g. ice. 2. the possibility of a design that would give the building a sixty plus year lifespan which can be refurbished rather than replaced in the future to reduce long term costs and whether it is possible to design a layout that will allow a phased refurbishment of the building in the future without closure of all facilities at the same time e.g. separate pool halls for Leisure Pool and Flexi Pool to maintain partial service during any future refurbishment or repairs; 3. the additional capital costs and revenue savings of building the new PH2O to Passivhaus standards and the merits/demerits of a Passivhaus build; 4. any relevant lessons that have been learned from the issues experienced by other new build swimming pool/ice complex/construction projects that have experienced major issues. Delete 4 b) and replace with “The future use of the Thimblerow site will be consulted upon in line with the City Centre Design and Development Framework” Delete 5 b) Second Amendment by Councillors P Barrett and L Barrett Council approves recommendations 3-6 in all parts except to delete 4(b) and replace as follows: 4(b) Agrees that that the existing Perth Leisure Pool (PLP) site is developed for circa 150 social and/or affordable homes upon completion of the PH2O facility. Council further 4(c) Approves exploration of the alternative option for Ice with Perth, Scottish and or World Curling as set out in para 7.2 including realistic timescales and milestones for their interest to achieve fruition during the construction phase of PH20. and 4(d) Agrees the next steps as set out in Appendix C in relation to leisure water facilities and in addition instructs officers to explore with LAL what additional leisure water facilities can be incorporated within the current proposed building footprint which achieve Passiv standards and are
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sustainable in respect of both capital and revenue costs. Note: The mover and seconder of the motion agreed to incorporate the second amendment into the motion. The first amendment therefore became the substantive amendment. In terms of Standing Order 21.5, a roll call vote was taken. 20 members voted for the Motion as follows: Depute Provost A Parrott, Bailies C McLaren and M Williamson, L Barrett, P Barrett, S Carr, S Donaldson, E Drysdale, M Frampton, K Harvey, G Laing, I MacPherson, I Massie, McCole, McEwan, Rebbeck, Robertson, G Stewart, R Watters and J Welch. 18 Members voted for the Amendment as follows: Provost X McDade, Bailies C Ahern, A Bailey and R Brock, Councillors K Allan, H Anderson, B Brawn, A Chan, D Cuthbert, J Duff, A Forbes, N Freshwater, D Illingworth, I James, N Khogali, C Shiers, F Smith and C Stewart. Resolved: • The content of Appendix C and the associated benefits, risks and opportunities be noted. • Thimblerow be approved as the site for the construction of the new PH2O facility for the approved base case facilities mix. • The content of Appendix D and the associated benefits, risks and opportunities associated with integrated investment proposal be noted. • It be agreed that the existing Perth Leisure Pool (PLP) site is developed for circa 150 social and/or affordable homes upon completion of the PH2O facility. • The next steps as set out in Appendix C in relation to leisure water facilities be agreed. In addition, officers be instructed as part of the next stage of the design work to explore with LAL what additional leisure water facilities can be incorporated within the current proposed building footprint which achieve Passiv standards and are sustainable in respect of both capital and revenue costs. • The content of Appendix E and the associated benefits, risks and opportunities be noted.
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• Option K be approved as the preferred option for Dewars Centre and the delivery of ice facilities in Perth city, and officers be instructed to undertake further engagement with local, national and/or world curling bodies and other interested community groups to explore interest in leasing the building on a full repairing and insuring basis for a user-led ice sports facility upon completion of PH2O, including realistic timescales and milestones for their interest to achieve fruition during the construction phase. • The content of Appendix F and the associated benefits, risks and opportunities be noted. • Council to seek the views of the community in relation to the repurposing of Bell’s Sports Centre for future use as an unheated multi- use sports pitches/ events space. 8. APPOINTMENTS TO COMMITTEES/OUTSIDE BODIES • Bailie M Williamson to replace Councillor J Welch on the Tayside Valuation Joint Board. • Councillor G Stewart to replace Councillor E Drysdale as a proxy member for the Perth and Kinross Integration Joint Board. 9. ELECTED MEMBERS BRIEFING NOTES Resolved: The Elected Members Briefing Notes, issued since the previous Council meeting and as set out on the agenda, be noted.