(N63) 21 October 2013 - Bromley Council - ZhongRong Exclusivity Agreement

The Bromley Council Executive met on 16 October 2013 to discuss an Exclusivity Agreement to be entered inoto with the ZhongRong Group who have recently made the proposition to rebuild the Crystal Palace. This would involve a £500 million investment of which £100 millon is destined for elements of the Master Plan. It covers a very wide area of the park and would give the ZhongRong-Arup grouping the security of being able to finance the Planning Application without fear of a rival bid until February 2015 (i.e. 16 months). This is the area covered:

It's about half the park area - see the full text put forward for the debate .

LINK to more detailed map (opens in separate window).

Explanation of the substance of the agreement

As promised a further update on the Exclusivity Agreement will have effect until February 2016.  Until that time the area subject to the agreement, which includes the TWA reservoir, the transmitter mast, the Caravan Club site, the intermediate lake, the concert platform and the terraces down to the National Sports Centre, cannot be sold or leased other than on short term occupational licences of less than 12 months or on tenancies at will.  In both cases, the Agreement states that all necessary steps must be taken to exclude the security of tenure provisions of the 1954 Landlord and Tenant Act. As such, the exclusivity line extends to cover the areas mentioned above; it is though important to note that the area on the map is not a planning application area or a proposed construction area.
 
During the exclusivity period the Council cannot enter into any discussions or arrangements to sell its interest in the area and cannot grant any licences or leases.  We cannot grant any licences for any survey work within the area to any would-be purchaser/lessee other than to the ZhongRong International Group.  Therefore, no one should be permitted to undertake any excavations or carry out any surveys of any type within the area.
 
While this does not restrict the Council’s ability as landlord to grant consents to our tenants under their leases, to ensure that no works are agreed or changes to existing leases are authorised or works permitted under existing leases or licences that may prejudice the proposed development, all proposals will be reviewed by the Council in discussion with the ZhongRong International Group.
 
As we discussed, this does not restrict the normal day to day activities of the park, both in terms of our maintenance works or activities which organisations such as you will wish to bring forward.

Colin Brand
Assistant Director, Leisure & Culture
Environment and Community Services Department
London Borough of Bromley

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[Ed.Colin Brand note added 30 October 2013]

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21/10/13 Last updated 21/10/13;30/10/13