Establishment of a Joint Venture Development Company

The Borough Council of Pendle (The Council) is seeking to establish a long term partnership through the creation of a Joint Venture Development Company (JV) with a private sector organisation or consortium to contribute to the regeneration and economic growth of the Borough of Pendle.

It is envisaged that the Council will, where it is applicable and at the agreement of both partners, transfer sites to the JV for development at an independently assessed value.

The initial development opportunities will be in Nelson, in particular the delivery of projects arising from Nelson Town Deal www.nelsontowndeal.co.uk. A Town Investment Plan was submitted in February 2021 to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government seeking £29.9m of investment with the intention that this would lever in a further £40m from public and private sector sources. A Heads of Terms offer for £25m has now been received and the Council and Town Deal Board are undertaking a process of reviewing the projects in line with the reduced funding.

It is the intention of the Council to work in partnership with the selected development partner to identify further sites or buildings, either in the Council’s ownership, other public sector ownership, or in private ownership, for development across the Borough over the term of the appointment.

The Council expects that the private sector development partner in the JV will be experienced in undertaking a range of regeneration and economic development projects and be capable of offering full design, specification and delivery. Fundamental to the Council’s requirements is that the development partner is capable of investing in the JV to complement the Council’s investment and facilitate the draw down of funding, both from the public and private sector, to provide the financial capacity for projects.

The entire term of the contract is 15 years, split into an 10 year initial period plus an option to extend for a further period of 5 years.