Compulsory purchase – overcoming the image problem | West Northamptonshire Development Corporation

During recent months, I have been brushing up on my ‘legalese’ as WNDC has completed two vital compulsory purchase orders. Notably, they were both rubberstamped by the Secretary of State in the last two months, making it a flying start to the financial year for us.

Undertaking a CPO can be a bold and controversial move. However, we definitely got the results we were hoping for at Avon Nunn Mills and St Peter’s Waterside – two high profile sites in the Northampton Enterprise Zone.

Given how effective they can be, I am surprised at how seldom compulsory purchase powers are used elsewhere. Clearly, there are a number of reasons for this, ranging from the prospect of legal costs to the need for specialist skills. Notwithstanding these issues, I suspect it is because CPOs suffer from an image problem - with its roots in previous decades.

In the 1950s and 60s, CPOs were a relatively popular tool, paving the way for some of the much maligned development we have been left to regenerate today. Since then, it became unfashionable and unpalatable for the public sector to be seen to force through development plans. Instead, public authorities started to take a more laissez faire approach, encouraging the market to take the lead and develop brownfield sites.

Obviously, in the midst of an economic downturn, the public sector has been compelled to take a more interventionist approach. Nevertheless, in the so called age of localism, that can still be an uncomfortable and difficult journey to take. To the man on the street, a CPO can conjure images of faceless public authorities wrenching assets from the hands of struggling landowners.

But of course, that picture is far from accurate. Not only are there legal safeguards in place to protect affected parties, CPOs can be a widely welcomed tool when used in the local interest. We enjoyed widespread support for our CPOs at Avon Nunn Mills and St Peter’s Waterside, as the sites comprise two of Northampton’s Big Six regeneration priorities. Perhaps more unusually, we ended up with no objections from landowners once all of our negotiations had been completed.

In the case of Avon Nunn Mills, this included a modification to our initial order, which when combined with a compromise agreement, meant there was a great outcome for all parties. Ultimately, it means we now have the opportunity for a state-of-the-art, £330m campus development by the University of Northampton. Similarly, our CPO at St Peter’s Waterside means a collection of industrial and vacant sites can be transformed, starting with a flagship Innovation Centre.

So perhaps it is no surprise that I am a big advocate of compulsory purchase powers. As long as they are used at the right time, in appropriate circumstances, CPOs can make the difference between landmark development and no development at all. It is little wonder that they have an improving reputation, particularly in our part of the world.