STIRLING COUNCIL
MINUTES of SPECIAL MEETING of STIRLING COUNCIL held under the provisions of
Stirling Council’s Standing Order No. 10(c) and Paragraph 1(4) of Schedule 7 to the Local
Government (Scotland) Act 1973 in the COUNCIL CHAMBERS, OLD VIEWFORTH,
STIRLING on THURSDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2017 at 3.00pm
Present
Provost Christine Simpson (in the Chair)
Councillor Maureen BENNISON
Councillor Neil BENNY
Councillor Alistair BERRILL
Councillor Robert DAVIES
Councillor Martin EARL
Councillor Scott FARMER
Depute Convener Graham HOUSTON
Councillor Chris KANE
Councillor Graham LAMBIE
Councillor Alison LAURIE
Councillor Jeremy McDONALD
Councillor Susan McGILL
Councillor Ross OXBURGH
Councillor Jim THOMSON
Councillor Alasdair TOLLEMACHE
Councillor Evelyn TWEED
In Attendance
Jim Boyle, Chief Officer – Finance
Alastair Brown, Director of Localities & Infrastructure
Stewart Carruth, Chief Executive
Graham Gibson, Communications Officer, Chief Executive’s Office
Gail McLaughlin, Committee Officer, Localities & Infrastructure
Iain Strachan, Chief Officer – Governance (Clerk)
Sheila McLean, Governance Officer, Localities & Infrastructure (Minutes)
Prior to commencement of formal business, Council congratulated the Chief Executive, the Chief Education Officer and the Education Team on being honoured with two awards and two additional nominations from the UK education organisation Founders for Schools.
In addition, at the 2017 Founders for Schools awards ceremony in London, Stirling’s Chief Executive was named Ambassador of the Year, an all-new award created to recognise the individual who had made the biggest difference in inspiring children and influencing business leaders in their local community.
McLaren High School Principal Teacher Martin MacMillan was honoured with an award for his work in preparing and empowering students as future scientists in science, technology, engineering and maths related jobs.
Stirling Council was also nominated for Innovator of the Year and Local Government Partner of the Year for its work to increase the number of opportunities for young people researching their future careers.
Council noted thanks and congratulations to all staff who contributed to these outstanding achievements.
SC23 APOLOGIES
Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Margaret Brisley, Douglas Dodds, Bryan Flannagan, Danny Gibson, Alasdair MacPherson, and Alastair Majury.
SC24 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
There were no declarations of interest.
Council resolved under Section 50A (4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973
that the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the
grounds that it involved the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs
6, 8, 9 and 12 of Part 1 of Schedule 7A of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.
SC25 MOTION - BANNOCKBURN HOUSE
Prior to the Meeting, Elected Members had received a briefing note from the Chief Officer – Governance giving advice on the subject of the motion submitted with the Agenda.
An amended motion, as set out below, was then put before Council.
Motion
“Council recognises the significant level of community engagement in the
Bannockburn House project, which was recognised by the Scottish Land Fund in its recent award of £643,000 to facilitate the purchase of the property.
Council also recognises the hard work and commitment of the dedicated volunteers who have organised a number of community open door events which have attracted nearly 4,000 visitors in the last year.
Council resolves to purchase Bannockburn House for £583,000, then, after three months, sell it to Bannockburn House Trust for £570,000, which will be funded by the award from the Scottish Land Fund.
During the period in which the Council holds the property, Bannockburn House Trust must occupy the property and be responsible for all costs in respect of the property during the period, including all outgoings, utilities and repairs/maintenance.
Bannockburn House Trust would be obliged to use the property for its proposed charitable and community uses in perpetuity, and it could not be sold/developed for commercial redevelopment, subject to certain commercial use being permitted where part of the Trust’s business plan and approved by the Council.
The sale to Bannockburn House Trust would also record the Trust’s commitment that no further funding will be sought from the Council in connection with its proposals.
The Council resolves to delegate to the Chief Governance Officer, in consultation with the Convener of Community Planning & Regeneration Committee, the Leader of the Council and the Leader of the Opposition, the authority to purchase the said asset conditional upon the Council first (i) completing satisfactory due diligence in respect of the property (both legal and also an appropriate building/structural survey/assessment of the property), (ii) being satisfied the property has a value of £600,000, (iii) concluding
an unconditional legal agreement to sell the property to the Trust, as outlined above, and (iv) being satisfied the Trust has secured sufficient funding to acquire the property and cover costs that it might incur during the short-term occupancy period referred to above.
Each party would meet their own professional costs and outlays in respect of the transactions envisaged by this proposal.
The Council would fund the purchase and associated costs of £615,000 from
prudential borrowing, with any shortfall between the purchase price and the sale price to be funded from Council reserves.
The seller has set a deadline for settlement of the sale no later than the 30th September 2017. In order to meet the seller’s deadline, Council instructs officers to immediately commence conveyancing work with the legal agents of the seller, Bannockburn House Trust and the Scottish Land Fund.
The Council resolves that to acquire and then sell the property in the manner proposed secures Best Value in terms of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003.”
Proposed by Councillor Scott Farmer, seconded by Councillor Chris Kane.
The contents of the officer advice in the briefing note were considered and noted.
Members noted the focus and commitment of the Bannockburn Trust in their efforts to secure Bannockburn House for the benefit of the community. It was important to ensure that acquiring the property should benefit the broader community across Stirling and the central belt.
Members noted that the terms of the amended motion addressed many of their concerns.
Decision
The terms of the Motion were unanimously agreed without the need for a roll call vote and accordingly,
Council recognised the significant level of community engagement in the Bannockburn House project, which was recognised by the Scottish Land Fund in its recent award of £643,000 to facilitate the purchase of the property.
Council also recognised the hard work and commitment of the dedicated volunteers who had organised a number of community open door events which had attracted nearly 4,000 visitors in the last year.
Council resolved to purchase Bannockburn House for £583,000, then, after three months, sell it to Bannockburn House Trust for £570,000, which would be funded by the award from the Scottish Land Fund.
During the period in which the Council held the property, Bannockburn House Trust must occupy the property and be responsible for all costs in respect of the property during the period, including all outgoings, utilities and repairs/maintenance.
Bannockburn House Trust would be obliged to use the property for its proposed charitable and community uses in perpetuity, and it could not be sold/developed for commercial redevelopment, subject to certain commercial use being permitted where part of the Trust’s business plan and approved by the Council.
The sale to Bannockburn House Trust would also record the Trust’s commitment that no further funding would be sought from the Council in connection with its proposals.
The Council resolved to delegate to the Chief Governance Officer, in consultation with the Convener of Community Planning & Regeneration Committee, the Leader of the Council and the Leader of the Opposition, the authority to purchase the said asset conditional upon the Council first (i) completing satisfactory due diligence in respect of the property (both legal and also an appropriate building/structural survey/assessment of the property), (ii) being satisfied the property has a value of £600,000, (iii) concluding
an unconditional legal agreement to sell the property to the Trust, as outlined above, and (iv) being satisfied the Trust has secured sufficient funding to acquire the property and cover costs that it might incur during the short-term occupancy period referred to above.
Each party would meet their own professional costs and outlays in respect of the transactions envisaged by this proposal.
The Council would fund the purchase and associated costs of £615,000 from
prudential borrowing, with any shortfall between the purchase price and the sale price to be funded from Council reserves.
The seller had set a deadline for settlement of the sale no later than the 30th September 2017. In order to meet the seller’s deadline, Council instructed officers to immediately commence conveyancing work with the legal agents of the seller, Bannockburn House Trust and the Scottish Land Fund.
The Council resolved that to acquire and then sell the property in the manner proposed secured Best Value in terms of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003.
The Provost declared the Meeting closed at 3.20 pm