Decision details

With reference to article 14 of the minute of its meeting of 21 June 2012, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Enterprise, Planning and Infrastructure which provided members with details of a proposal to transfer ownership of the property known as Thomas Blake Glover House from the Grampian Japan Trust to the Council.

The report recommended –

that the Committee –

(a)       note the contents of the report;

(b)       instruct officers to enter into negotiations with the Grampian Japan Trust regarding a possible transfer of the property and to report back to a future meeting of this Committee;

(c)        instruct relevant officers to present to a future meeting of this Committee a fully costed proposal for any future use of Glover House including any benefits which might accrue to the Council as a result of the property being in Council ownership; and

(d)       instruct relevant officers to report to a future meeting of this Committee on progress with the proposal in order that officers could continue to prepare any documentation which would be required to facilitate the transfer of the property Glover House to the Council subject to:-

·        the Head of Legal and Democratic Services being satisfied that the proposed use of the property conforms to any contractual terms which might be imposed by the Trust;  and

·        the Head of Finance being satisfied that any risk to the Council could be mitigated and that the Council neither inherited any debts nor financial liabilities of the Grampian Japan Trust; and that the financial implications for the Council could be met and sufficient budget was in place to cover the costs of any legal fees which were to be incurred and any fees relating to the repair and maintenance of the building as well as identifying a future budget beyond 2013/2014 from the appropriate Council budgets to cover the costs of on-going maintenance and upkeep of the building in the event of the transfer of ownership being completed.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations, subject to the further reports referred to in recommendations (b), (c) and (d) being submitted to the next meeting of this Committee.

- COUNCILLOR WILLIE YOUNG, Convener.