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JOINT FUTURE AGENDA: SHORT LIFE WORKING GROUP ON JOINT PREMISES DEVELOPMENT IN PRIMARY AND COMMUNITY CARE: FINAL REPORT

APPENDIX 3
JOINT PREMISES - EXAMPLES OF PROMISING JOINT STRUCTURES

JOINT WORKING IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR
The experience in East Dunbartonshire

1 Introduction

1.1 This paper provides details and background about partnership working between

• East Dunbartonshire Council (EDC) and
• Greater Glasgow Primary Care NHS Trust (GGPCT).

Both partners are involved in two specific joint working initiatives

• Kirkintilloch's Initiative (Ki)
• Lennoxtown Initiative (Li).

1.2 Both initiatives are explained in this paper. They differ in detail and in the delivery model being used for implementation. A number of detailed legal matters remain to be clarified in respect of the Lennoxtown model. Nevertheless, it is included here with the Kirkintilloch Initiative to underscore the innovative use of land and property assets to enhance their value through the planning process.

2. Kirkintilloch's Initiative

2.1 The Starting Point

2.1.1 The beginning of the initiative was the closure in the early 70s of Woodilee Hospital, Lenzie - a large mental health institution in the ownership of GGPCT. The land was designated as a possible housing site for sale since the decision to close. The local Council - then Strathkelvin District Council - strongly objected to the development as it was in the green belt. The planning application for housing was eventually referred to the Secretary of State for determination on appeal. Housing permission was granted for around 800 units.

2.1.2 After local government reorganization in 1996 the new Council, EDC, took a very adversarial approach to the proposals. In particular they were strident in their argument that the new housing development should provide for a new Kirkintilloch link road, to connect Kirkintilloch to the M80, passing through the Woodilee site. The road had been in the Structure Plan since the early 70s, approved by Strathclyde Regional Council. The cost of the full road was a significant impediment to the development and indeed significantly reduced the potential receipt that had been factored into GGPCT's capital programme for health re-provisioning.

2.1.3 The adversarial approach taken by both sides in this matter would ultimately have led to a planning appeal. Appeals have a history of creating significant legal costs and leading to decisions where both parties lose rather than mutually gaining.

2.1.4 In order to prevent this, contact was established between senior officers in both organisations and the prospect of a joint approach was explored. A different attitude, with new personnel, was required, to open up a fresh debate.

2.1.5 This meant that EDC planning officials had to enter into these discussions with GGPCT. Planning officials have a difficult role to play - they have to give impartial advice to their council, and therefore have to be careful when engaged in development proposals.

2.1.6 From GGPCT's senior officials in the Estates Division also have to serve two masters, attempting to maximise value from the sale and development of redundant property while also meeting the needs of a local area for health care and other public sector infrastructure. If officials had simply insisted on fully maximising value the partnership could not have developed.

2.2 Joint Problem

2.2.1 The key to resolving the dispute was the delivery of the new link road. Both parties required the road for different reasons and both had to be prepared to give up a long-held negotiating stance. In this instance the Council was prepared to give up its previous planning stance. EDC had an aspiration to see the social, economic and physical regeneration of Kirkintilloch - the link road was seen as a significant cornerstone in the future regeneration. In addition, EDC had a need for new leisure facilities, new cultural facilities, access to jobs for local people, new businesses and physical regeneration of the town centre. All of these required significant finance, which was not available.

2.2.2 The Trust required the road to open up the development and realise the housing value.

2.2.3 The aspirations of both the Trust and the Council were put on the table for discussion and positive thought given as to how both could be achieved.

2.3 Proposed Solution

2.3.1 Following a number of discussions, a proposal was developed. In essence the proposal was to

• Create a joint working structure, a legal partnership
• Pool all assets, land and funding
• Create a development pool for regeneration
• Increase the value of land by seeking advantageous planning permissions
• Develop a business plan to realise partners' aspirations
• Engage the local community in the development proposals.

2.3.2 Following these proposals, a process of development appraisal was undertaken, using independent professional consultants, to verify the potential and create the business plan needed to gain the approval of the Scottish Executive, the Council and the Trust Board.

2.3.3 The outcome of this process was the establishment of a business plan based on land valuations, subject to planning, reaching around 40m a legal agreement was established setting out a series of objectives

2.3.4 In addition it was agreed that the local community would be actively involved in the decision-making process at both project level and at Partnership Board level. Community representatives were asked to volunteer for places and 18 were appointed. A community representative is now the independent chair of the Partnership.

2.4 Delivery Mechanisms

2.4.1 A joint working structure was established - Kirkintilloch's Initiative Partnership Board. It has equal representation from partners, five each, and three members of the local community.

2.4.2 The Partnership Board is the strategic and decision making forum, allocating the finance. A special purpose vehicle - Kirkintilloch's Initiative Ltd (Ki Ltd) - was established as wholly owned subsidiary of EDC. This company is the engine room, tasked with responsibility to deliver both the receipts from sale and 14 separate projects.

2.5 Programmes for Delivery

2.5.1 The programme has a projected delivery timescale of seven to ten years. A detailed project management plan identifies the linkage between projects and income from land sales. Projects cannot proceed without the necessary technical appraisal and proof of sustainability and finance being available.

2.5.2 This is a business-planning model that is appropriate for managing a long-term programme involving significant risk, something unfamiliar to public sector agencies. Both parties recognise the implications of such a long-term project. Establishing an arms-length organisation founded on a secure legal agreement gives long-term stability to a major regeneration project, irrespective of future changes, e.g. in local political control, Scottish Executive priorities, or key personnel.

2.6 Project to Date

2.6.1 The programme for delivery is dependent on the planning process. Detailed applications are now being submitted for

• The Kirkintilloch link road
• Housing at Woodilee
• A supermarket on former Council land
• A new canal basin in Kirkintilloch town centre
• An integrated health and social care facility
• A new leisure centre with swimming pool.

2.6.2 The remaining projects are presently being developed.

2.7 Community Consultation

2.7.1 Ki advertised in the local press for community reps to become involved in the initiative. Twenty-two people responded seeking appointment. Eighteen were eventually appointed, including one as the independent Chair of the Ki Partnership Board.

2.7.2 The community reps have taken up responsibility within each of the projects and are fully involved in the design of each project. In addition, two reps were appointed to the Ki Partnership Board with responsibility to report back to the Community Representatives Forum. These measures ensure that the local community has rights and responsibilities under the Partnership, which ensures that local views are given appropriate weight in the development of the project.

2.7.3 The Initiative has not met with complete community support. There is some hostility to a number of the projects

• The supermarket
• The road
• Housing developments.

2.7.4 In particular the community have organised themselves into a pressure group, "Watch this Space", and Ki representatives are meeting regularly with them to discuss some of the contentious issues.

2.7.5 Kirkintilloch's Initiative is at a critical stage. The determination of planning applications will influence its future. There has been a resilience to date to overcome problems and there is a commitment in the Partnership to see a positive outcome.

3. Lennoxtown Initiative

3.1 Starting Point

3.1.1 The closure of Lennox Castle Hospital was announced in 1998, to be complete by April 2002. The hospital occupied a large site to the west of the small village of Lennoxtown, five miles from Kirkintilloch. The closure of the hospital was forecast to have a significant impact on the local economy. Over 700 people worked in the hospital, the majority of whom lived locally. In particular, a considerable percentage of the lower-paid, lower-skilled employees - porters, kitchen and domestic staff - lived in the village of Lennoxtown. The existing economic and social circumstances were not good. Research carried out by Glasgow University forecast that over 4m would be taken out of the village economy as a result of the closure.

3.1.2 The reaction to the closure proposals was to establish a Task Force, including all partners and stakeholders and chaired by EDC.

3.1.3 The Task Force was established and funded by

• East Dunbartonshire Council
• Scottish Enterprise Dunbartonshire 7
• Greater Glasgow Primary Care NHS Trust.

3.1.4 The Task Force also included

• Unions
• Councilors
• MSP (local)
• East Dunbartonshire Enterprise Trust (EDET).

3.1.5 The Task Force established three short-term working groups to carry out the work required

• Employee Support Group, working with the existing staff to equip them for future employment
• Site Development Group, working to identify the future development and after-use of the site
• Area Regeneration Group, working to support the local economy and provide an exit strategy for the Task Force and a future development programme.

3.1.6 As a result of the Task Force

• Almost all staff have found new or alternative employment
• The site has a development proposal for housing and leisure activity
• A community-based and owned initiative (Lennoxtown Initiative) has been established to receive the receipts of sales of land which have been enhanced by increasing the value through the planning and development process. EDC and GGPCT are contributing land. SED are contributing ongoing revenue support.
• The Initiative has now taken on the role of the Task Force and the future regeneration of the village.
• The new community-based Initiative operates on the same arms-length basis as Ki, using the same development structure and seeking to improve the value of land assets through the planning process, with all proceeds being used for the regeneration of Lennoxtown.

3.1.7 Details of the Li work programme are subject to intensive community consultation on its draft action plan and therefore are not yet available.

3.1.8 The Initiative Board consists of representatives from 3 public agencies: East Dunbartonshire Council, Greater Glasgow Primary Care Trust and Scottish Enterprise Dunbartonshire.

3.1.9 The key to unlocking the partnership was the different views on the value of the site. The Trust was prepared to give up their aspirations for a capital receipt and consider the wider implications for the village of Lennoxtown. The Council was prepared to consider a form of land swap with an adjacent site, Hole Farm, an area of long-standing dispute between the planning authority and a developer. Both parties were then able to look toward an imaginative solution, where the community could be supported through receipts coming from a housing development on the old hospital site. The important lesson learned was that in order to make any progress both organizations had to give up long-held aspirations.

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