Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority Item 16

15/03/200513 September 2006

Error! Bookmark not defined.Cosham Fire Station - Proposed New Site

Report by the Chief Officer and Clerk

Contact: David Howells, Director of Corporate Services Tel: 02380 626833

Jeff Pattison, Head of Corporate & Legal Services Tel: 01962 847321

1

Summary

1.1

The Executive of Portsmouth City Council has agreed to proceed with negotiations for the disposal of an area of land to the Authority which both authorities agree would provide a suitable site for the relocation and redevelopment of Cosham Fire Station. The Executive has sought to impose a number of pre-conditions at the outset of negotiations and has invited the Authority to make a formal response. While some of the conditions are quite reasonable, others are considered unacceptable and would fetter this Authority's statutory obligations and responsibilities under the Fire Services Act 2004. The implications of each of the pre-conditions is examined and a formal response to Portsmouth City Council is set out in recommendation 2.1.

1.2

An urgent reply from the City Council to the proposed response is required so that a decision can be made on capital funding implications as part of budget preparation process for 2007/08 - 2009/10. A recommendation to this effect is included at 2.2.

2

RecommendationError! Bookmark not defined.

2.1

That the Executive of Portsmouth City Council be informed that as part of the detailed terms of the sale of the site identified for a replacement Cosham Fire Station in Northern Road, Cosham the Fire Authority is prepared to consider any reasonable request for replacement car parking within the King George V Playing Fields and to meet their reasonable legal and surveying costs and other disbursements; and be requested to reconsider their decision of 14 July 2006 so as to:

a. delete their Condition 2(a) on the grounds that the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority is not able in the way suggested to fetter its discretion and obligations to fulfil it statutory duties to provide fire cover for Portsmouth;

b. Condition 2(b) be replaced with an undertaking to implement a full public consultation exercise before considering any recommendation to close Copnor Fire Station;

c. Delete the requirement in Condition 2(d) to make the site of Cosham Fire Station available for affordable housing as the Authority has no statutory power to promote affordable housing and such a disposal would not enable the Authority to meet its statutory obligations to achieve the best price reasonably obtainable and apply the receipts to fulfil its statutory duties and obligations.

2.2

That the City Council be asked to consider this Authority's response as a matter of urgency so that a decision can be made on whether to allocate the necessary funding in the capital programme in 2007/08 for a start on the scheme.

3

Introduction Error! Bookmark not defined.and Background

3.1

This report concerns a decision taken by the Executive of Portsmouth City Council on 14 July 2006 on the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority's request to make available land at Northern Road, Cosham for a new fire station to replace the existing Cosham Fire Station. It outlines the planning history and recommends how the Authority should respond to the City Council.

3.2

Cosham Fire Station is a three-appliance bay property dating from 1951 with minor extensions and alterations in 1980 and 1981. It is located at the junction of Northern Road and Waite Street immediately to the west of the town centre. It can be seen from the picture and the plan in Appendix A to this report that it is a cramped site with little opportunity to make it larger or introduce more functionality to the existing buildings. Therefore it was decided many years ago that the solution for serving the northern part of Portsmouth was to find a site for a new fire station and dispose of the existing one. The existing site has potential for redevelopment for other uses and particularly for high density residential development.

3.3

A number of sites have been considered in the past and rejected for various - mainly operational - reasons but as part of the Portsmouth City Local Plan Review 2001-2011 the City Council, as the local planning authority, identified land in their ownership at the King George V Playing Field as a suitable location. An extract from the adopted Plan is given in Appendix C. It is a quarter of a mile south of the existing station and well located for access in all directions including the M27. The site is essentially a small car park serving the playing fields and there will be a need to provide replacement parking elsewhere in the same locality. Importantly, a new fire station can be constructed on the site without any direct impact on the playing fields (pitches) themselves.

3.4

An illustrative `footprint' proposal for this site (also in Appendix C) has been prepared based largely on the scheme implemented at St Mary's in Southampton. This indicates how it would be possible to develop a five bay fire station with office space necessary to accommodate the fire prevention and other operational and community based activities that would be required to serve Portsmouth and the surrounding area. Although Portsmouth City Council adopted this proposal as Local Plan Policy in July 2006 (and there were no formal public objections to this particular proposal) they had not, until very recently, considered as land owner the issue of whether they were prepared to dispose of the land and on what terms. At a meeting of their Executive on 14 July 2006 it was resolved:-

1

To make an "in principle" decision that the site on the south east corner of King George V Playing Field as shown on the attached plan and which has been allocated in the new City Local Plan for a new fire station, can be made available to Hampshire Fire and Rescue for the purposes of constructing a new fire station to serve the Cosham and northern parts of the City.

2

To authorise the Strategic Director for Corporate Resources and the Head of Asset Management to enter into negotiations with Hampshire Fire and Rescue and their agents for a disposal of the freehold interest in the site, subject to conditions being inserted in any sale, which could include the following:

a

Hampshire Fire and Rescue giving a legal undertaking that it will keep Copnor Fire Station operational for the foreseeable future.

b

In the event that Hampshire Fire and Rescue want to close Copnor Fire Station, they will meet the cost of preparing an independent review and analysis report as part of a full public consultation on the future of the Copnor Fire Station

c

Hampshire Fire and Rescue will cover all the City Council's costs incurred in the possible sale of the King George V site

d

Hampshire Fire and Rescue will reprovide an equivalent area of car parking in the immediate locality of King George V Playing Fields to replace the area of car parking to be acquired and put forward the old Cosham Fire Station site for redevelopment with affordable housing only

1

That the Strategic Director for Corporate Resources and Services will keep the Leader of the City Council and the other group leaders fully informed of the progress of negotiations with Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service.

2

That the outcome of the negotiations will be reported to the Executive of the City Council for formal authorisation of any sale.

Note: The plans appended to the City Council report were based on those in Appendix C of this report.

3.5

This resolution of the City Council raises a number of issues and it will be necessary for the Authority to send a formal response to the City Council for their further consideration These issues are dealt with in the same order in the commentary below.

4

Commentary

4.1

Copnor Fire Station is another cramped site with 1950's buildings (plus some later extensions) which is no longer capable of accommodating the needs of a modern fire service. (See Appendix B). A major review of emergency cover in Portsmouth and the surrounding area confirmed that it would be possible to relocate the resources currently at Copnor to Southsea Fire Station without compromising the overall standard of cover (speed and weight of attack) on Portsea Island. Southsea Fire Station, by contrast, is a relatively modern building with ample existing space to accommodate the operational resources from Copnor. This in conjunction with a modern larger fire station at Cosham would mean that emergency cover could be more effectively provided from two main bases rather than three. A 12 month trial ending September 2007 will confirm whether the findings of the review are correct. This is an operational decision that will need to be taken by the Authority in the light of the facts and its statutory duties to provide fire cover in an efficient manner. Therefore, the Authority should not, nor can it accept, such a condition as that suggested in Condition 2(a).

4.2

The Authority will be fully aware that there is considerable political and local support for the retention of the Copnor Fire Station based on a perception of a need for the facility that may not have a basis in fact. This has undoubtedly given rise to the City Council's Condition 2(a) above. However a statutory body cannot fetter its ability to fulfil its statutory duties by agreeing to a contractual provision to that effect which would not be enforceable.

4.3

Condition 2(b) is based on there being a body or person qualified to undertake an independent review and analysis of any report that might be prepared for this Authority's consideration. No such body or person has been identified or suggested. The desire of Portsmouth City Council to see a robust public consultation exercise before any decision is taken about the future of the Copnor Fire Station is both understandable and laudable and it is normal for the Authority to fully consult on such proposals. It is therefore possible that a formal procedure for public consultation could be agreed which meets the aspirations of both sides and enable the City Council to withdraw their Conditions 2 (a) and (b). This Authority has used an independent consultancy service (Opinion Research Services) on a number of previous occasions to manage public/stakeholder consultation exercises and events.

4.4

With regard to Condition 2(c), the City Council has already been informed that if the acquisition proceeds they would be entitled to their reasonable legal and surveying costs together with such other disbursements that they would have been entitled to had this matter proceeded by way of compulsory purchase which is the normal method for assessing such costs on sales between public bodies.

4.5

With regard to the first part of Condition 2(d), the issue of providing replacement car parking, this is both a valid and appropriate request that can be dealt with as part of the settlement of the detailed terms of the sale.

4.6

With regard to the latter part of Condition 2(d), that of restricting the sale of the Cosham Fire Station to the provision of affordable housing, this would not enable this Authority to meet its statutory obligation to achieve the best price reasonably obtainable and would significantly reduce the capital receipt it would otherwise receive. Furthermore it has no statutory obligations to provide affordable housing (as opposed to staff housing) and no statutory powers which could be used to that end, unlike the City Council which has the powers of a unitary housing authority. The receipts from the sale of surplus property have to be applied to meet the statutory functions of the Authority. If the site were sold for residential redevelopment, affordable housing would in any event have to be provided to the percentages required by the then prevailing local and national planning guidelines and it would be open to Registered Social Landlords to bid for the site when it is marketed. So again, the Authority should not and can not accept this condition.

5

Contribution to Corporate Aims and Objectives

5.1

The need to replace the existing Cosham Fire Station has been a high priority scheme for the Authority for many years. Proposals for the new station building include the provision of accommodation and facilities to support local community-based safety activities.

5.2

The future of Copnor Fire Station has been linked to the Cosham scheme by some stakeholders, including the City Council. The proposed trial relocation of resources from Copnor to Southsea Fire Station is a key objective in our Integrated Risk Management Plan and this does not impact on the separate objective to provide a new building and modern fire station to accommodate the current and future needs of Cosham. That said, the new building will be capable of accommodating the Special Equipment Unit currently located at Copnor only because of a lack of space at the existing Cosham Fire Station. This vehicle is one of four which need to be strategically located - ideally close to major road network intersections.

6

Risk Analysis

6.1

It will be clear from the commentary that some of the pre-conditions sought by the City Council would fetter the Authority's statutory obligations and responsibilities and this would leave the Authority vulnerable to legal challenge.

7

Resource Implications

7.1

There are no significant resource implications arising from the recommendations of this report, but Members will be aware that legal and estates advice has been obtained and the cost of fees has had to be met from current resources. When the scheme is put back into the capital programme, professional fees will be charged directly to the scheme.

8

Equality Impact Assessment

8.1

There are no equality or diversity issues arising from the recommendations in this report and the proposals within this report are considered compatible with the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights, the Human Rights Act 1998, and the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000.

Background Information (Section 100D of Local Government Act 1972)

The following documents disclose the facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of the report:

None

Note: The list excludes: (1) published works; and (2) documents that disclose exempt or confidential information defined in the Act.