Rutland County Council Approves St. George’s infrastructure bid

Rutland County councillors have narrowly agreed to support the submission of a business case for a £30 million grant for infrastructure relating to the 2, 215-home development at St George's Barracks.

Over 320 local residents attended the full council meeting on Monday evening at the county council offices in Oakham.

Protesters gathered outside the council offices.

Due to the large number of members of the public wanting to attend the council provided a very poor video link to museum and online link for those who of us who chose to stay at home. I my case it failed to work.

Councillors voted 12-11 in favour of the motion for a business case for the grant from the Housing Infrastructure Fund.

A business case, based on the evolving masterplan, will now be put forward to Homes England for the grant.

The HIF submission is based on the latest Evolving Masterplan for St. George’s and, if successful, will allow essential infrastructure works to be brought about in advance of the site’s redevelopment. This would ensure appropriate and timely investment in infrastructure and local public services, including upgraded roads and junctions, new healthcare facilities and public transport.

“This was a hugely important decision for Rutland and I think that we have had a result that clearly indicates the feeling within the County. St. George’s is a site which the MOD is obligated to redevelop in line with national housing and Treasury targets. Our partnership with the MOD has sought to balance these national priorities with our own local needs and, in so doing, ensure that any future redevelopment makes a genuinely positive contribution to Rutland. Securing Housing Infrastructure Funding that can deliver improved infrastructure around St George’s, and throughout the wider county, is vital. We are determined that a development which has been heavily influenced by local people should also be supported by all the necessary improvements to roads, transport, schools and healthcare to meet the needs of our communities. We need to continue to work very hard with the Residents through the Advisory Group and other methods to ensure that we get what is right for Rutland. For me, that is the clear challenge that came from last night.”
Council Leader Oliver Hemsley

“We welcome the decision by Rutland County Council’s Full Council to approve the HIF business case for St. George’s. The bid must still be submitted to Homes England, who will then decide whether to award HIF funding to the St. George’s project. This is a positive step and we await the outcome of the bidding process.”
Robert Stone, Head of Estates at Defence Infrastructure Organisation

Rutland’s HIF bid is based on the latest version of the Evolving Masterplan for St. George’s, which sets out proposal for how the site could be redeveloped after it has been vacated and closed by the MOD.
Having been approved at Council, Rutland’s submission to the Housing Infrastructure Programme will be submitted in March 2019.

Any HIF offer that results from a successful bid will itself need to be approved by Councillors at a future Full Council meeting, together with associated conditions.