RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)    agrees that the Council’s office site at Weeley, once vacated by the Authority, is no longer required for the purposes for which it is currently held and should be used instead for development to deliver new homes including new, high quality Council Housing;

(b)    formally appropriates the land including the Council’s office site at Weeley for planning purposes, which will facilitate the carrying out of housing development;

(c)    agrees to the principle of disposing of part of the site, at best consideration, and subject to planning permission, for development to be secured on the whole site, including the part retained by the Council;

(d)    acknowledges that any legal agreement for redevelopment of the land will require specified works relating to the construction of Council housing and therefore, grants an exemption under the Council’s Procurement Procedure Rules for the procurement of such construction works; and

(e)    subject to best consideration being demonstrated / secured and meeting the requirements set out within the Housing Acquisitions and Development Policy, the Leader of the Council, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing, the Corporate Director (Operations and Delivery), the Section 151 Officer and the Monitoring Officer, be authorised to make the necessary decisions to enable the Heads of Terms to be agreed, the necessary consents to be obtained and legal agreements to be entered into within the principles established within this report.