Lease for part of Parkfield Site, Colin Road, Paignton

That the Council enter
into a flexible lease arrangement with the governing Body of
Mayfield School to formalise the occupation of part of the
Parkfield Site, Colin Road, Paignton, subject to the following
provisions:

1.    
The Council retains the ability to serve 12 months’ notice at
any time to terminate the lease; and

2.    
The lease includes a mechanism whereby, should People’s
Parkfield Trust be in a position to take on the headlease in the
future, the lease with Mayfield School may be terminated and
replaced with a direct lease to People’s Parkfield Trust,
with Mayfield School becoming a sub-tenant in accordance with the
original intention.

The decision
formalises an agreement that has been developed following the
occupation of part of the Parkfield site by Mayfield School, the
arrangement supported the schools an operational requirement whilst
negotiations regarding the lease took place with People’s
Parkfield Trust.

The alternative option
was to grant a long-term lease without flexibility.  This option was discounted as it would have
limited the Council’s ability to revisit arrangements with
People’s Parkfield Trust in the future.

This decision will be
implemented immediately.

At the Cabinet meeting
on 20 August 2024 the Chief Executive was instructed to work with
the community and voluntary sector to develop proposals which would
enable Mayfield College 6^th Form to use the MySpace
Building at Parkfield, whilst ensuring that the building was used
to its full potential as a community asset outside of school time
and terms.  At the Cabinet on 23 January
2025, the ‘blueprint’ for a “Torbay Locality
Model” as a framework for a pilot to improve support for
Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) was approved.

The Chief Executive
has continued her involvement in this matter. In September 2025
Mayfield College started operating from the building as planned.
 Discussions progressed in respect of
the lease terms for People’s Parkfield, and they put forward
a business plan, requesting financial support for the operation of
the site.  This was carefully considered
in line with the Council’s on-going commitment to ensuring
that the MySpace building be used out of school hours as a
community venue.

While the original
intention had been to grant a lease to People’s Parkfield
Trust, subsequent receipt and consideration of a Business Case from
People’s Parkfield Trust identified a number of financial
requests. Although some elements of the Business Case were agreed
through internal discussions, the majority were not accepted and,
as a result, agreement with People’s Parkfield Trust has not
yet been reached.

In light of this, the
Council progressed a pragmatic interim solution by granting a
flexible lease to Mayfield School, thereby safeguarding continuity
of use and service delivery.

The inclusion of a
12?month notice provision and termination mechanism ensures that
the Council retains future strategic flexibility, allowing further
discussions with People’s Parkfield Trust and enabling a
transition to the originally intended lease structure should
agreement be reached.