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Commenced 5.15pm - Concluded 6.30pm
Present:
Councillor Ian Greenwood - Chair
Zamurrad Khan - Vice Chair and Community Director
Greg Lucas - Community Director (West Bowling)
Sarah Hinton - Community Director (West Bowling)
Zahira Hussain - Community Director (West Bowling)
Taj Salam - Community Director (Marshfield)
Jamshed Khan - Community Director (Park Lane)
Akhtar Khan - Community Director (Park Lane)
Paul Johnson - LSC Director
Will Jenning - RSL Director
Sister Julie McGing - Faith Director
David Wilkinson - Interim Chair BTT
Ray Tate - BTT Director
1. Apologies for absence:
Sarah Brown
Munawar Khan
Omar Khan
Councillor Sher Khan
Jennifer Rowe
Khalid Mahmood
Nick Chamberlain
Ian Greenwood advised the Board that Vipin Joshi had resigned on the 11th July in connection with item seven which will be discussed at this meeting. Ian commented that this was the honourable and correct thing for Vipin to do in the circumstances and wished to record the thanks of the Board and the staff team for his valued input into both Bradford Trident and the Trading Company.
2. Minutes and matters arising from the meeting of 22nd May 2008:
Proposed correct by Ian Greenwood
Seconded by Akhtar Khan with all in favour.
3. Declarations of interest:
Private sector housing - Taj Salam
Akhtar Khan
Greg Lucas
Jamshed Khan
Zahira Hussain
Sarah Hinton
West Bowling Youth Initiative - Taj Salam
Greg Lucas
4. Board matters:
Mark talked through the paper as follows:-
Parish Council: The establishment of the Parish Council is on track for May 2009, more details will be available for the October Board meeting.
CLG Funding: A cut of 1% has been unilaterally applied by CLG and this amounts to £11,000 for Trident. We are also involved with an ongoing dispute regarding irrecoverable VAT and continue to negotiate with CLG, Bradford Council and Government Office. We hope to give a clear report at the October meeting.
Staffing update: Wayne Noteman is leaving at the end of July to take up a post at Firebird JVC. Cath Stone has gained employment with the Home Office and will leave at the end of September.
The Board wished both members of staff every success for the future and thanked them for their valuable contribution to the programme.
Chas Stansfield is to retire on the 30th September, Ian Greenwood on behalf of the Board wished Chas every best wish for the future together with a long and happy retirement.
Councillor Mohammed Jamil has been removed by the Conservative group and replaced by Councillor Hussain. Ralph Saunders of the Bradford and Airedale TPCT had agreed to be their Director on the Board and it is hoped that he will be signed up before the end of July.
Summer Celebration: The event took place on Sunday 22nd June and was well attended, doubling up as the grand opening for the Park Lane Centre.
NNMN Conference: Bradford Trident hosted an event on the 1st July entitled "Exit Strategies and Sustainability for Neighbourhood Partnerships". Thirty-six delegates attended and feedback was unanimously positive. We have been asked to remain Regional Partner for Yorkshire and the Humber which is a contract worth around £12k per year.
NNMN has changed its identity from the 1st July and is now called "The National Association for Neighbourhood Management".
Staff Away Day: A successful staff away day was held on the 3rd and 4th July at Parcevall Hall. The event concentrated on the transition from NDC funding to being a stand-alone organisation and this will form the focus of the discussions at the away weekend of the 17th October.
5. Facelift appraisal:
Wayne talked through the facelift appraisal which commits £591,739 of Trident legacy funding in order to undertake facelift work on 1 to 39 Ramsey Street and 1 to 19 Woodville Terrace. Taj Salam expressed his concern about the height of the gate and it was agreed that we would investigate whether a pedestrian gate could be incorporated into the double gate in order to improve access. Acceptance of the appraisal was proposed by Taj Salam and seconded by Akhtar Khan with all Directors in favour.
6. Working group updates:
These were accepted as correct with no matters arising.
7. Confidential item - Dunoon House Site:
David Mosley tabled a paper with a recommendation from the Trading Company that the bid of £350k plus overage be accepted from Overland Developments/Sector.
Taj Salam commented that he had been involved on the interview panel and felt totally comfortable with the Overland bid. Ian Hayfield commented that the Dunoon site had been marketed to two hundred developers and only three had responded with only two making a serious bid. The Overland bid is a net guarantee price for Trident and is deliverable. It was proposed by Taj Salam and seconded by Will Jennings that the recommendation from Bradford Trident be ratified with all Directors in favour.
David Mosley was asked to instruct Gordons to produce an Exclusivity Agreement in order to obtain legal commitment for the deal.
8. Confidential item - Citygate update - BTT recommendation:
David Mosley tabled a paper detailing the recommendation from the Trading Company. The Chair allowed the Board time to read the paper as this is a vital decision to be taken on behalf of the Charity.
Greg Lucas commented that ideally we should have the papers before the meeting and it was asking a lot of the Directors to absorb the information at the meeting. Ian Greenwood commented that the Charity are asked to ratify a recommendation from the Trading Company. Greg Lucas requested access to the paper trail involving this deal. Ian Greenwood responded that legal advice had been taken from Gordons and they had confirmed at 4.50pm today that it would be appropriate for Greg to have access to the details of the deal which is being negotiated by Bradford Trident Trading a wholly owned subsidiary of Bradford Trident. Greg is to make an appointment with David Mosley to review the files going back virtually three years.
Taj Salam admitted that he was confused about the relationship between the Trading Company and the Charity and understood Greg's frustration.
Taj commented that he had recently attended a legal briefing from Tim Ratcliffe of Gordons who had stated that the Charity must not micro-manage BTT as this would be an infringement of the Charity Commission's regulations as it is a wholly owned subsidiary.
We must however take care that Directors do not perceive that they are being left out.
Ian Greenwood expressed his view that there was sufficient information being tabled tonight to make a decision on whether to accept the proposed deal.
Taj felt that this had now cleared the air. Ian Greenwood commented that in his opinion the letter from Tony Reeves Chief Executive of Bradford Council was quite clear that if Bradford Trident Trading did not complete the deal with Asquith Properties then the land would be retained by the Council and they would dispose of it in the future and it will be unlikely that the credit receipt would be given to Bradford Trident.
Ian went onto comment that as the last meeting was inquorate and we were under a threat of legal action from Asquith's it was important that a decision was made today as Asquith's had agreed to postpone their legal action until the 18th July. If the BTT recommendation is rejected today then we still face the threat of litigation from Asquith's and also the threat from the Council of taking over the deal.
Taj Salam accepted Ian's comments and reminded Directors that we need to act professionally and make personal decisions on that basis.
Greg Lucas commented that we appear to be scared of Asquith's and questioned why we had sought legal advice from a barrister. Ian Greenwood responded that this is how large property deals materialise no matter whom we are dealing with on a commercial basis. We believe following the barrister's advice that we are entirely secure with the deal so far if there was a threat of litigation.
David Wilkinson reminded the Charity Board of the relationship between the Trading Board and the Charity. The contract is with Bradford Trident Trading but needs ratification from the Charity Board so it is totally appropriate for it to be discussed tonight.
As Interim Chair of BTT David had ensured that the Community Directors on the Trading Company had been involved with the recommendation and that we had to take legal advice as there was a real threat from Asquith's that they may sue us for £2 million. David also commented that there is nothing hidden in the deal and he would be very happy for any Charity Director to review the papers. The reason why the limited information is given to the Charity Board is that this matter is highly commercial and confidentially sensitive and may have an adverse impact on our impact on our negotiations with Asquith's.
Greg Lucas accepted David's points but said that he struggled with them and was not willing to be a party to the decision.
Ian Greenwood reminded the Board that we need to consider this matter tonight to ratify the recommendation from the Trading Company or there is still a real threat that we will face legal action from Asquith Properties on the 18th July.
Taj Salam asked for clarification why security had not been sought from Asquith's for the £750k additional consideration in connection with Phase I.
Ian Greenwood responded that the recommendation from the Trading Company is that this is a risk worth taking in order to complete the deal.
Zamurrad Khan asked for clarification on Phase II and was concerned that the Trading Company may have to take possession of that piece of land with Impact Community Developments as tenants. Ian Greenwood responded by stating that if we get into difficulties then we have a verbal undertaking from the Council that they will step in if the deal starts to go wrong but it is probably in our best interests for BTT to deal with Impact Community Developments. Bradford Council have already served a notice to Impact to quit. There will be legal costs involved for the Trading Company but these should not be too high.
Greg Lucas commented that it is good that we will receive £2.5 million up front for Phase I but he was concerned that in effect we were giving a loan of £750k to Asquith's without any security if they go into liquidation. Ian Greenwood responded that the credit crunch has had an adverse impact on all development deals.
David Wilkinson reminded the Board that we were offered £6 million before abnormals before in December 2005 and in the opinion of the Trading Company the proposed staged offer of £4.5 million which is the actual price we will receive, bearing in mind that Asquith Properties are taking all the risks is still a very good deal in a difficult financial climate.
Ian Hayfield commented that this is correct. In his professional opinion land can only be valued at whatever price a developer is able to get his bank to agree to. The original offer of £6 million was very strong and was in fact was way above the others at the time of the tender in December 2005.
Ray Tate commented that these issues had all been discussed at the Trading Board and it is the belief of the Trading Board that the offer is the best that we can get at the present time and if there are further delays then we face either litigation or a reduced bid from Asquith Properties.
Greg Lucas expressed his concern about the commitment to the wedding hall and hotel and wondered whether we could trust Asquith Properties to deliver these.
Taj Salam commented that Ian Hayfield and Ray Tate are correct about the current day situation and he expressed his desire that the Board should move forward together to agree this deal.
It was proposed by Akhtar Khan and seconded by Zamurrad Khan that the staged payment deal of £4.5million detailed in the confidential paper be accepted. All Directors were in favour apart from Greg Lucas who voted against.
David Mosley is to inform Asquith Properties that the deal has now been agreed by both Boards and will instruct Gordons to start the legal process.
9. Any Other Business: nil
10. Date of next meeting:
Friday 17th October, 6pm Thorpe Park Hotel Leeds (Away weekend)
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