The Executive Director (Development) has submitted a report to seek approval for the funding package and authority to enter into all necessary contracts to undertake the Approval in Principle design and Full Business Case and local connectivity studies for the reopening of the Cowley Branch Line to passengers. This includes the parameters for a financial contribution from Oxford City Council, including the ring-fencing of future Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) contributions.

Cabinet is recommended to:

1.    Approve the funding strategy and recommend Full Council to approve a capital budget of £4.56m to deliver the next phase of the project made up of:

·         Up to £289,000 up front contribution from Oxford City Council from already-secured Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funds;

·         Up to £3.5m of CIL to be forward funded from local landowners and then be repaid/offset from CIL liabilities for any future development that gains planning consent after the date that contracts are entered into;

·         At least £771,000 from local landowners and Oxfordshire County Council as a non-repayable grant contribution;

·         In the event that the submitted Levelling Up Fund 2 application seeking £4.0m is found to be successful in total or in part, the local funding arrangement described above would be reduced commensurately from one or more of the funding pots outlined above; and

2.    Delegate authority to the Executive Director (Development), in consultation with the Council’s Section 151 Officer, the Head of Law and Governance, and the Cabinet Members for Health & Transport and for Finance & Asset Management to agree financial contributions and terms, and then enter into all relevant funding agreements and contracts.

The Executive Director (Development) had submitted a report to (i) seek approval for a funding package and (ii) authority to enter into all necessary contracts in order to undertake the Approval in Principle design and Full Business Case and local connectivity studies for the reopening of the Cowley Branch Line to passengers.

Councillor Louise Upton, Cabinet Member for Health and Transport, informed Cabinet that Network Rail had produced an outline business case for the re-opening the Cowley Branch Line to passengers.  The next stage of the project would be a full business case, and funding was required to enable this to proceed.  Whilst producing the full business case would not guarantee delivery of the project to re-open the line, there was no prospect of it progressing without the work.  Negotiations had taken place with other landowners who would benefit from the re-opening of the line with regard to co-funding.

Councillor Upton highlighted that benefits to the city of the re-opening of the line would be significant, and included potential new rail stations at South Oxford and East Oxford.  The funding being sought would cover the infrastructure to be provided, as well as ensuring that the connectivity between the stations and local communities and businesses was designed to be as effective as possible.

It was noted that, following legal advice, a correction to the second bullet point under recommendation 1 was proposed.  The wording ‘Up to £3.5m of CIL to be forward funded from local landowners and then be repaid/offset from CIL liabilities for any future development that gains planning consent after the date that contracts are entered into’ was to be replaced with:

‘Up to £3.5m of the costs to be funded by local landowners and then be reimbursed from CIL paid for any future development by those landowners that gains planning consent after the date that contracts are entered into’.

Clarification was provided that a landowner would only be reimbursed if their organisation (and not another organisation) gained planning consent.

Cabinet resolved to:

1.    Approve the funding strategy and recommend Full Council to approve a capital budget of £4.56m to deliver the next phase of the project made up of:

·       Up to £289,000 up front contribution from Oxford City Council from already-secured Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funds;

·       Up to £3.5m of the costs to be funded by local landowners and then be reimbursed from CIL paid for any future development by those landowners that gains planning consent after the date that contracts are entered into;

·       At least £771,000 from local landowners and Oxfordshire County Council as a non-repayable grant contribution;

·       In the event that the submitted Levelling Up Fund 2 application seeking £4.0m is found to be successful in total or in part, the local funding arrangement described above would be reduced commensurately from one or more of the funding pots outlined above; and

2.     Delegate authority to the Executive Director (Development), in consultation with the Council’s Section 151 Officer, the Head of Law  ...  view the full minutes text for item 99