Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Tony Parsons (Substitute: Rosemary Dartnall) and Dan Thomas.

Members are reminded that they must declare their disclosable pecuniary interests and other registrable or non-registrable interests in any matter being considered at the meeting as set out in Appendix B of the Members’ Code of Conduct and consider if they should leave the room prior to the item being considered. Further advice can be sought from the Monitoring Officer in advance of the meeting.

None were declared.

To confirm the minutes of the Housing Supervisory Board meeting held on 9^th June 2022.  

Contact: Shelley Davies on 01743 257718

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 9^th June 2022 be approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any questions or petitions from the public of which notice has been given.  The deadline for notification for this meeting is 5.00 pm, Friday 9^th September 2022.

          There were no public questions.

To receive any question of which Members of the Council have given notice.  Deadline for notification for this meeting is 5.00pm, Friday 9^th September 2022.

          There were no Member questions.

To receive the Cornovii Developments Limited Update Report from the Assistant Director, Homes and Communities.  [Report attached]

Contact Jane Trethewey

Members received the report of the Assistant Director Homes and Communities which gave an update from Cornovii Developments Limited (CDL) on the company’s progress against the approved 10-year Business Plan.

The Assistant Director Homes and Communities introduced the report and referred to Appendix A which provided detail of the Company’s overall progress in developing the homes set out in the Business Plan including updates on its approved schemes at The Frith, Ifton Heath and Ellesmere Wharf.

The Managing Director of CDL gave the following update on the three approved schemes:

The Frith

The scheme had now been completed with all properties sold and the affordable housing transferred to STaR Housing.

Ellesmere Wharf

It was noted that following the issues with the previous contractor the site had now been handed over to the newly appointed developer and it was expected that the site would be completed by next Summer.

Ifton Heath

The majority of the infrastructure was now in place with the foundations due to go in by October 2022 and it was expected that the show home would be finished by Easter 2023 and the properties handed over between May 2023 and January 2024.

In response to questions regarding to the insolvency of the previous contractor of the Ellesmere Wharf scheme, the Managing Director of CDL explained that there was a bond in place to retrieve 80% of the costs, however this would not take into account the delay on site and other indirect costs. Therefore, once a full response was available an exempt report would be presented to the Board. It was added that due to the increase in house prices if the cost retrieved was lower than 80% CDL would still be able to deliver the commitments on this site.  

The Managing Director of CDL, in response to a question regarding the changes in the certainty of the pipeline, outlined the reason for this was due to one site being purchased by another company. He added that CDL had learnt a valuable lesson from this experience.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

To receive a verbal update from the Assistant Director, Homes and Communities.

The Chairman advised that the report to Cabinet on the activities of the Housing Supervisory Board had been positively received and they were happy with the work of the Board. He added that going forward an update report would to be presented to Cabinet annually.

In response to a question regarding the request for benchmarking information to be included in the report, the Assistant Director Homes and Communities noted that it had not been possible to provide this information in relation to other housing companies, as these have been established with often very different business plans and goals, which are therefore not directly comparable. Information regarding the provision of affordable housing had been included which showed that CDL provided a higher percentage of affordable homes compared to the average housing developer figure for Shropshire.

RESOLVED: That the update be noted.

To resolve in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 and Paragraph 10.4[3] of the Council’s Access to Information Procedure Rules, the press and public be excluded during consideration of the following item.

RESOLVED: That in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, and paragraph 10.4(3) of the Council’s Access to Information Procedure Rules, the press and public be excluded during consideration of the following items.

To confirm the exempt minutes of the Housing Supervisory Board meeting held on 9^th June 2022.

RESOLVED: That the exempt minutes of the meeting held on 9^th June 2022 be approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive the Cornovii Developments Limited Exempt Items Update Report from the Assistant Director, Homes and Communities.  [Exempt report attached]

Contact: Jane Trethewey

Members received an exempt report from the Assistant Director Homes and Communities.

Councillor Heather Kidd joined the meeting at this point.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

To receive a verbal update from the Assistant Director, Homes and Communities.

The Assistant Director Homes and Communities provided a verbal update in relation to procurement and 'Teckal' Status.

RESOLVED: That the update be noted.