A NUMBER of homes in Gorse Ride could be bought using a compulsory purchase order following a vote by the ruling executive.
At its meeting on March 31, the group agreed to use its powers to buy land off Gorse Ride South in Finchampstead so its work in rebuilding the estate can continue.
Eight homes needed to be acquired, and the executive were warned that although the council would try and buy them by agreement, “ if negotiations are not successful then there remains a risk to the delivery of the project, resulting in delay and adding to costs” .
The CPO would help mitigate against this.
Introducing the item, deputy leader Cllr John Kaiser, said the Gorse Ride regeneration project was a flagship project for the council, as it aimed to provide “more and better social housing”, with 178 existing homes replaced with 249 homes.
“The use of compulsory purchase powers will enable all the necessary land interests to be acquired to secure the delivery of the regeneration, and the consequential benefits to the local community,” he said.
These include social, economic and environmental benefits.
He said the council would do everything it could to avoid using a CPO, “and the package we offer is a substantial, generous one”.
CPOs are “a very last resort … after all other stages of negotiations have been ignored and exhausted, and will enable the regeneration scheme to proceed in accordance with a timeframe which not only saves money, but means these people can move into these homes sooner.”
He added the council had a moral duty to deliver homes “for the most vulnerable people in our community”.
Summing up ahead of the vote of approval, council leader John Halsall said: “(Gorse Ride is) central to what we’re trying to do (to battle) hardship and deprivation, it’s a very good job that we’re doing.”
The report presented to the executive noted that in February last year, five objections to the CPO were received, and it was referred to the Secretary of State for inspection.
In November, the inspector said that “ he was not satisfied that the Council had demonstrated a compelling case in the public interest for the CPO”.
