Agenda item

Purpose:

The report seeks approval of the strategic document, Strategic Asset Plan 2019-2023 (revised 2022), this being a formal document conveying the council’s approach to the management of its assets.

Resolved that Executive approve the attached Strategic Asset Plan (SAP) into its suite of strategic documents.

This decision is eligible to be ‘called-in’.  However, if the decision has not been ‘called-in’ by 5.00pm on 16 June 2022, then it will be implemented.

Councillor Ross Mackinnon proposed the report (Agenda Item 8), which requested approval of the Strategic Asset Plan.

Councillor Abbs commented that the plan did not appear well developed from an environmental perspective. He argued that there had been no environmental mitigation undertaken in relation to any of the Council’s commercial properties.

Councillor Mackinnon disagreed with the comments.

Councillor Culver queried which site the £286,000 capital funding via a land release related to, whether there was any update to the joint venture scheme, and queried whether the Council still invested in the petrol station and whether it would be offloaded as incompatible with the climate emergency declaration.

Councillor Mackinnon agreed to revert to Councillor Culver in relation to the site details and joint venture scheme. In relation to the petrol station, he commented that as landlords of the site there was no guarantee that it would remain a petrol station and commented that there was no correlation to suggest the Council was invested in fossil fuels.

Councillor Vickers queried the state of the asset register and whether the plan related to strategic assets or was a strategic plan.

Councillor Mackinnon responded that the plan supported the Council’s strategy overall and represented the long term aim to manage, acquire and dispose of the assets needed in order to carry out services on behalf of its residents.

Councillor Mackinnon commented that where an asset was no longer in use the Council would either seek to re-deploy that asset within the Council or dispose of it with best value for the Council Tax payer.

In relation to a query from Councillor Erik Pattenden, Councillor Mackinnon explained that the plan had been reviewed as a consequence of presenting it as a separate stand-alone document to the Capital Programme.

Councillor Dillon suggested that recent assets sold by the Council had been in a poorly maintained state. He queried whether assets would be sold to parish council’s at cost price or to make a profit. 

Councillor Mackinnon responded that the Administration was very supportive of the devolution process and commented that the condition of a property would be reflected in the sale price. He further stated that the Council did not have a policy of deliberately running down an asset to hand over in a poor condition.

Councillor Somner seconded the report and commented that it had been the correct decision to create it as a stand-alone paper.

RESOLVED that:

Executive approve the Strategic Asset Plan (SAP) into its suite of strategic documents.

Other options considered:

The organisation could progress under the ‘do nothing’ option, without a formal SAP. This is not recommended, as the SAP lays out the manner in which the organisation can adopt best practice in managing its estate.

Alternative option is for the SAP to act as an annex to the Capital Strategy, which has been adopted in the past. It is important that the SAP as a document stand in its own right and so appending to another strategy is not recommended.