The Director of Regeneration and Place presented a second report which updated Members on the Hind Street Urban Village project, seeking the required authorisations to enable the council to secure the external grant funding required to undertake the primary enabling works and to enter into the various contracts and land deals that will enable the works to be implemented.

It was reported that the Council submitted a Full Business Case (FBC) for Hind Street South (the area south of Hind Street) on 9th July 2024, requesting £50.1 million of funding from Homes England (HE) and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA). The FBC was attached to the report as appendix 1. This funding unlocked phases A and B of the development, a site comprising of 10.9 ha of brownfield land, for which planning permission is sought for the delivery of 633 homes and 1,330sqm (Net Internal Area – NIA) of ancillary commercial floorspace. The package of works set out in the FBC (referred to as the Primary Enabling Works) supported the creation of development plots.

It was further reported that the proposed primary enabling works package was to be implemented following a detailed design stage, with work expected to start in early 2025 and to be completed in Spring Page 2027. Plot development in Hind Street South was expected to commence in summer 2027 and developed out over the following 6 years (2033).

Resolved – That the Director of Law and Corporate Services be authorised to:

(a)  finalise and enter into a Grant Funding Agreement (GFA) with Homes England and a GFA with Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) to secure the funding required to implement the primary enabling works for the Hind Street Urban Village project as detailed at paragraph 3.2 of this report.

(b)  enter into a contract for the delivery of the primary enabling works with John Sisk & Son Ltd pursuant to the Procure Partnerships Framework - Infrastructure Lot £15m+;

(c)  enter into a development management agreement with Ion Property Developments Ltd (Ion) through the Pagabo framework (Lot 3 – Reserved Suppliers – Development Management Services) to enable Ion Property Developments Ltd to manage the implementation of the primary enabling works on behalf of the council;

(d)   to enter into a legal agreement with Cadent Gas Limited (Cadent) in relation to the relocation of the gas infrastructure, subject to the costs of the arrangement being within the estimates detailed in the Full Business Case (FBC) submitted to Homes England and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.