CPO

This is Gravity sought CPO advice on a 253 ha (625 acre) site known as the former BAE Royal Ordnance factory (near Bridgewater, Somerset) to unlock one of the largest employment sites in the UK.

We were engaged by the purchaser to carry out site assembly/compulsory purchase due diligence as part of the acquisition process.  Initial advice identified critical commercial risks in the proposed BAE planning process. 

Advice to the client and engagement with the Council, ensured that the risk was mitigated prior to purchase.  Renegotiation of the draft S106 Agreement and restructuring of the commercially impacting terms while still meeting Council

objectives enabled the acquisition to progress, at a lower risk with a swifter implementation of compulsory purchase to secure land required for the access road.

The proposed scheme will see the delivery of a 95 hectares (235 acres) sustainable mixed-use campus with a new energy generation plant, employment space, leisure facilities, cycle routes and formation of a new access road linking the site to the A39.