Ralli Courts CPO row nears conclusion
Leaseholders at buildings demolished to make way for One New Bailey, part of English Cities Fund’s New Bailey project, will meet with Salford City Council on Thursday in the hope of finally agreeing compensation after they were forced to relocate under a compulsory purchase order.
Salford last week agreed an undisclosed maximum limit on the amount of compensation it was prepared to award the leaseholders, and the parties now will enter into mediation to agree the settlement figure.
If no agreement is reached, the matter will be referred to the Upper Tribunals Land Chamber for independent determination.
The Salford Central CPO, approved in July 2010, was enacted to bring forward English Cities Fund’s mixed-use New Bailey scheme on land between Salford Central station and the River Irwell.
The leaseholders first sought to fight the CPO but their efforts turned to obtaining compensation when the CPO was approved by then then-secretary of state Eric Pickles in 2012 following an inquiry, enabling the council to acquire the buildings.
The leaseholder claimants include AJ Bell Trustees, a dormant company headed up by Andrew Bell, chief executive of financial services firm AJ Bell, and Ralli Solicitors, which was based at the development site previously known as Ralli Courts.
Ralli Solicitors employed more than 100 people at the time of the CPO.
At that time, the leaseholders claimed that the buildings, constructed in the 1980s, did not need to be redeveloped and objected strongly to it.
Any compensation agreed would be paid from Salford’s Revolving Acquisition Fund, which was approved at the same time as the CPO.
The fund works on the basis of the council buying sites before the money is paid back to the authority by the developer, English Cities Fund, as plots are developed and sold.
English Cities Fund is a joint venture between Muse Developments, Homes England and Legal & General.
English Cities Fund and the leaseholders were contacted for comment. Salford City Council declined to comment.
