Following on from last week’s blog, Thursday 13th saw Cabinet approve the recommendations from officers to (a) progress with Kier Property Development Limited with the joint venture proposals and (b) progress commercial and legal negotiations with a specialist developer for the Claire House and James House site.
Press releases went out first thing Friday morning and were picked up by our local blogger, Leatherhead Living (who I had wanted to meet for a long time and did meet in person in May, but only because he volunteered to work as a poll clerk at the recent district council elections). It didn’t excite much of a response on social media – probably because people just want to see something tangible happening.
In the case of the joint venture, there is still at least a couple of weeks of going back and forth over the legal agreements and we want to have it all tied up by the end of July as trying to get anything signed in August is really difficult. If we do achieve that, then we anticipate that the next year will be spent on developing the proposals with various phases of consultation/engagement which hopefully will demonstrate that something is going to happen (as long as the proposals get planning consent).
In complete contrast, health and safety came into sharp focus this week. There were two reported incidents at St Martin’s Walk car park – linked to the recent rain and the resurfacing of two areas in the car park. Whilst the causes of the incidents are being investigated (with various team members seeing if they could replicate the slips in the real world and with the contractor and paint manufacturer looking at the technical aspects), we decided to close part of the car park which posed a risk. The decision was not straightforward, not least given the potential disruption caused to members of the public and the businesses in that part of Dorking, as well as revenue implications for the Car Parking budget, but we couldn’t identify any other options and the forecast for further rain was the deciding factor.
Whilst the weather is so unpredictable, fingers crossed the cause can be pinpointed and a solution identified before Dorking Wanderers first home game on 12 August. It was a great example of multiple teams all working together at pace – Car Parking, Insurance & Risk, Property & Regeneration and Communications – and this reminded me again of one of the great benefits of working in a smaller organisation.
Emma