Representation by Benedict Williams (Benedict Williams)
- Date submitted
- 18 March 2024
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Mr Williams lives on site at (Redacted) , with all of his income coming from lettings on the site, including (Redacted), a number of commercial lettings and adjacent agricultural and equestrian land. Mr Williams suffers from (Redacted) and otherwise is at an age and stage in life where loss of his home and income will be difficult to the point where the Council should be treating him as a special case. The plans for the scheme show all of the commercial buildings being demolished, with his home, the house he lets out and the majority of the land being acquired either temporarily or permanently. Whilst the houses are shown to be retained, during the works they are within the scheme boundary and surrounded by site compound and / or soil storage. Mr Williams will therefore lose all of his income and presumably be expected to move off site for a considerable period during the works. The Notice period of works with DCO in hand would allow the Council to force occupation within 28 days (temporary occupation) and to take ownership within three months. Compensation for permanent possession is not statutorily payable until three months after claim submitted on receiving permanent Notice, meaning that Mr Williams would have to vacate in advance of receiving any compensation. This is nothing like enough time for Mr Williams to find and secure replacement home, or replacement income and he will likely have to secure such replacement without the benefit of agreed compensation. This raises the very clear possibility of having to find temporary rented accommodation, prior to moving to permanent replacement. This is not a reasonable expectation for the Council to expect the claimant to plan for. Mr Williams has not been able to submit a Blight Notice in advance of the scheme due to the mixed use and mixed occupation of (Redacted). We have therefore looked to engage with the Council in advance of them seeking their powers, stressing the health issues of Mr Williams, as to the need to reach agreement for purchase of the site in advance of the normal Notice period. Unfortunately, despite having been in discussion with the Council for over three years, no offer for purchase has been made by them. Most recently they have asked for information on the tenancies upon the holding, this information being supplied in November of last year. No formal response has been made to this but indication has been made that any purchase will need to be with vacant possession. The Council are aware that delivering vacant possession will be problematic for Mr Williams: many of the tenancies do not allow for the Landlord to demand vacant possession in the short term; he is reliant on the rent as his only income and most importantly; as benedict lives on his own, on site, subject to a (Redacted), he is potentially subject to negative approaches from the tenants in advance of any negotiated or forced vacancy. The Council seem only to be concerned with the management issues they will face post purchase, rather than reflecting on the implications for Mr Williams. We ask please that the Inspector directs the Council to engage in negotiations as to purchase of the Property so that purchase completes and Mr Williams is able to move in advance of powers being used. If the Council will not engage as requested then, in line with the recent decision to refuse the Royal Borough or Windsor and Maidenhead (Nicholsons Shopping Centre etc) CPO 2022 due to lack of suitable engagement with Smokeys nightclub, we ask please that the Inspector does not grant powers to the Council for these works.