Issue - meetings

The Chairman welcomed the Portfolio Holder for Business Transformation with special responsibility for the Town Centre Regeneration and Special Projects and the Town Centre Regeneration Programme Manager and reminded Members that this presentation had been requested following the Board meeting held on 3rd January 2012.

The Portfolio Holder informed Members that the Capital Bid for £50,000, together with funding contributions from Worcestershire County Council, was to facilitate continued project management support and any external specialist advice that was needed to progress the Town Centre regeneration.

The Portfolio Holder responded to questions from Members on the timescales for the development of the Town Centre and explained that a project of this size often involved a number of changes to it as situations developed and was confident that very good progress had been made, in view of the challenges that had emerged to date.

The Town Centre Regeneration Programme Manager gave background information on how Regeneration had became a Council priority, the Public Property Assets Review which had involved the Council, Worcestershire County Council, Fire and Police authorities, together with the Primary Care Trust.  The Portfolio Holder also gave details of the membership and role of the Partnership Steering Group.

The Board discussed the following areas in more detail:

• The press release recently issued by Worcestershire County Council
• The Area Action Plan and key strategic aims
• The funding (including the 106 monies from Sainsburys and when this would become available) and how it was expected to be used.
• The risk assessment for the project, taking into consideration alternative arrangements that had been made should elements of the project not come to fruition.
• Lottery funding bid – the outcome of this was expected in September 2012.
• The number of jobs created and the net jobs gain, taking into consideration the site specific closure of retail outlets.
• Interest from developers and retail outlets in various sites throughout the Town Centre and additional private developments.
• The upgrade of the Bus Station and the inclusion of RTPI “real time” technology, which was an aspiration of Worcestershire County Council.  It was confirmed that the Portfolio Holder and Town Centre Regeneration Programme Manager would continue to encourage and support this technology.
• The availability of plans on the Planning Portal.
• Provisions that had been put in place to ensure that utility companies would not need to disturb the new surfaces within the high street in the future.

The Portfolio Holder summarised the presentation and confirmed that the work on the Town Centre, which had been slow to start, was now gathering momentum, with more visible changes taking place.