A development agreement was signed nearly three years ago but it appears that no scheme which meets the council's requirements is viable in the current circumstances. The Council's officers had asked the cabinet to consider a six month extension to the March 2013 deadline to give time for both Simons (the developer) and the council to investigate possible ways forward. A special council meeting was then to be held to ratify the decision.
Instead the cabinet decided that it had no opinion on the biggest development that the council has been involved in for many years (and on which it has already spent more than half a million pounds).
It also decided that the council should not be allowed to discuss any potential extension until January.
It may or may not be a good idea to grant Simons an extension. It is certainly not a good idea just to avoid the issue!