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DECISION TAKEN
That Cabinet:

a)   
Noted the work undertaken since the cabinet report
of December 2021.

b)   
Approved the terms as set out in the private
Appendix A for entering into an Agreement for Headlease and
subsequent Headlease, Agreement for Underlease and subsequent
Underlease and an Agreement for Sub-Underlease and subsequent
Sub-underlease of the new MSCP at Northampton Railway
Station.

c)   
Delegated authority to the Director of communities
and Opportunities in consultation with Chief Finance Officer, the
Monitoring Officer and the Cabinet Member for Economic Development,
Town Centre Regeneration and Growth and Economy to take the final
decision, take all necessary steps and complete the necessary
documentation related to the new MSCP at Northampton Railway
Station subject to (d) below

d)   
Agree that the Council should only proceed with the
proposed lease arrangements subject to the overall business case
continuing to show a profit for the council. This will be assessed
prior to entering into the agreements by the Head of Major Project
and Regeneration.
 
REASONS
The proposal would help to
achieve a number of key objectives including helping to meet an
identified undersupply of car parking and providing a new income
stream for the council. Meeting an undersupply of car parking at
this site will support economic growth and the prosperity of the
town and make significant enhancements to the overall environmental
and pedestrian connectivity of the surrounding area. The
recommendations enable the scheme to proceed, whilst there remain
outstanding risks and interdependencies, without these approvals,
the project could not continue at this stage
 
ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS
It was considered to no longer
proceed with the project given the change in the yield that is
required to still be financially worthwhile for the council to
proceed. This was discounted as the current yield still achieves a
return that would generate a profit rent for the council over the
life of the lease in most scenarios tested as well as enabling the
wider regeneration of the station area.