Purpose

The Constitution authorises Officers to make
decisions within the scope of their responsibilities, unless it is
required to be made by a Portfolio Holder or Cabinet.
 
The Chief Operating Officer has exercised her
delegated authority to proceed with the commencement of RIBA (Royal
Institute of British Architects) stage 4 for the Rougham Hill
redevelopment.

Decision

The Chief Operating Officer has agreed to
proceed with the commencement of RIBA stage 4 for the Rougham Hill
redevelopment - planning application validated 8 July 2025.

Reasons for the decision

The planning application for the Rougham Hill
redevelopment site was validated on 8 July 2025, meeting the
planning obligation in the AFL. The project team are now seeking
approval for commencement of RIBA stage 4, having considered the
following options with recommendation. The gateway review is
supported by Report J0059744/GWRIBA 4 V2 from the external project
manager Carter Jonas.
 
The following areas of risk have been
identified with mitigation, options and potential solutions
detailed in the full Gateway 4 report:
 
·        
Planning: Risks from written pre-application response (these remain
relevant until planning permission is granted).
·        
Procurement
·        
Design
·        
Framework
·        
Programme
·        
Costs
 
The Chief Operating Officer is satisfied with
the above and has made the decision accordingly.
 
The decision has considered the original
business case to

Council on Tuesday 27 September 2022 (Item 250 refers) and a
further detailed business case agreed at
Cabinet on Tuesday 6 December 2022 (Item 430 refers).

Alternative options considered

The Council has the option of selling the land
as part of an exit strategy and achieving planning permission will
add value to that asset. However, if sold the opportunity to
generate long term revenue to pay for public services would be lost
and significant abortive costs would be incurred.