Agenda item - Centres Strategy

Agenda item

Centres Strategy

Minutes:

The Head of Economic Development and Regeneration presented the Centres Strategy for the Board’s consideration and in so doing highlighted the following:

 

·                The document provided was a summary of the final glossy strategy that would be presented for the consideration of Cabinet on 4th October 2017.

·                The strategy would enable the Council to have an effective economic development policy for the 7 centres managed by the North Worcestershire Economic Development and Regeneration Unit (NWEDR).

·                The 7 centres had been agreed at a meeting of Cabinet in 2015 and had been selected on the basis of serving a local population in excess of 2,500.

·                There were key themes underpinning work in all of the centres.

·                The Centres Manager was working hard to develop constructive working relationships with business representatives in the local centres.

·                As part of the work on the strategy action plans had been developed for each of the centres.

·                Monitoring would be implemented to help assess the impact of the strategy and the action plan, with key performance indicators having been identified to enable this to happen.

 

The Board subsequently discussed a number of matters relating to the strategy in further detail:

 

·                The amount of information provided in the summary report.  The Chairman expressed disappointment that Members had not had a chance to pre-scrutinise the final report to Cabinet.

·                The reasons why the 7 centres had been identified in 2015 and why this had not included Aston Fields.

·                The potential to incorporate Aston Fields into the strategy in future years.

·                The need for there to be appropriate capacity in order to expand the number of centres addressed at this strategic level.

·                The basis of the original decision when the 7 centres had been identified.  It was noted that Members had wanted to focus on those centres which were separated from Bromsgrove town centre and needed support to remain sustainable.

·                The ongoing work provided by the NWEDR Unit to parts of the district not included as one of the 7 centres.

·                The boundaries of the 7 centres and the town centre.  Members were advised that the boundaries of the town centre were clearly defined in the local plan.  Further information was requested in respect of the boundaries for the 7 centres.

·                The focus of the Bromsgrove Enterprise Park.

·                The events referred to in the strategy and the extent to which the Council was involved in organising events in the centres.  Members noted that many events were organised by Parish Councils and Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) groups).

·                The use of A-Board by businesses and the extent to which these were encroaching on pedestrian areas and acted as a barrier to disabled access in Bromsgrove town centre.

·                The number of void commercial properties in Bromsgrove town centre and the options available to the Council to encourage use of these spaces.

·                The potential to introduce pop-up shows in the district.

·                The availability of data for previous years against which progress could be monitored.

·                The challenges with broadband access in the district and the extent to which this could be addressed by the strategy, for example in one of the Key Performance Indicators.

·                The need to address the infrastructure problems impacting on Bromsgrove district, particularly in relation to travel, and the benefits of providing further information about this in the strategy.

·                The potential for further economic development to be achieved through the Council working closely with the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

·                The potential for Cabinet to withhold making a decision on the subject of the strategy until the Board had had a chance to review the content of the final strategy.

 

At the end of these discussions Members discussed a number of options available moving forward.  The suggestion was made that the Portfolio Holder for Economic Development the Town Centre and Strategic Partnerships could circulate the final report electronically amongst Members of the Board and an extra meeting could be held to enable pre-scrutiny of the document if considered appropriate.  However, concerns were expressed that this would not be a practical solution in the time available before the Cabinet was due to consider the matter on 4th October.  Alternatively it was suggested that Cabinet could be asked to postpone making a decision on this item, though concerns were raised that this might delay progress with economic development in the district.  Suggestions were also made that the Board could recommend changes to the strategy to ensure that broadband connectivity and an extension to the number of district centres covered by the strategy was taken into account, but Members also expressed reservations about taking this approach when they had not had a chance to view the final strategy which might provide further information on these points.  Without consideration of the Board’s concerns and attempts being made to provide Scrutiny Members with sufficient access to the strategy in advance of a decision being taken the Chairman noted there was a risk that this matter could be the subject of a call in.

 

RECOMMENDED that the Centres Strategy is not approved in it current form until further information has been provided for the consideration of the Overview and Scrutiny board on the subject.

Supporting documents: