Published: Friday 16th June 2023 | 9.59am
As part of its £20 million Levelling Up Fund scheme to create a leisure and cultural hub in Cannock town centre, Cannock Chase Council has made a compulsory purchase order and is now issuing a legal `Notice of Making a Compulsory Purchase Order`.
The notice, which is required to be published in one or more local newspapers for two consecutive weeks, sets out the Council’s intention to acquire 65 parcels of land, all located within the town centre.
While acquiring land compulsorily is a last resort when it comes to assembling land for re-development, it is common practice for a compulsory purchase order to be made in parallel with negotiations to acquire land by agreement.
By making the compulsory purchase order, the Council hopes that affected land owners will understand that its town centre regeneration proposals are well on the way to becoming a reality, and that land owners affected by the proposals will engage in negotiations with the Council to enable the Council to purchase the land needed for the town centre redevelopment by agreement, rather than through compulsory purchase.
The notice allows 21 days for objections to be made to the proposals in the compulsory purchase order. Any objections must be made in writing to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities c/o Planning Casework Unit, 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham B2 4BH or by email to pcu@levellingup.gov.uk. The deadline for submitting objections to the compulsory purchase order is 7 July 2023.
Councillor Josh Newbury, Deputy Leader and Regeneration and High Streets Portfolio Leader said: “As a council, we have ambitious and exciting plans to re-develop the Prince of Wales Theatre and open up the area between the Beecroft Road car park and the town centre so that it is transformed into a welcoming gateway. We also want to see much improved public spaces and a hub for local start-up businesses. In order to achieve this, we must demolish long-standing eyesores like the multi-storey car park.
“Making ambitions like this a reality involves many complex processes which can sometimes be very lengthy. Instigating a CPO process is one of them but it is something we have to do if residents and local businesses are to get the new leisure and cultural hub which Cannock needs and deserves. As our new Labour-Green administration comes into office, we are keen to progress this vital regeneration of the town centre as quickly as we can.
“We are very much open to any new negotiation with landowners affected by this order and want to work with those impacted in a positive and constructive way.”
On the homepage of the Council’s website www.cannockchasedc.gov.uk there is a dedicated section on the re-development of Cannock town centre with background information. It includes separate sets of FAQs about the whole scheme and the compulsory purchase order process.
The webpage also includes a copy of the compulsory purchase order, a map showing the land which is included in the order, and a statement of the Council’s reasons for making it.
Photograph:
Pictured is Councillor Josh Newbury, Deputy Leader and Regeneration and High Streets Portfolio Leader.