Agenda item - Levelling Up Fund - former Market Hall and Windsor St sites - pre-scrutiny

Agenda item

Levelling Up Fund - former Market Hall and Windsor St sites - pre-scrutiny

(Report to follow)

 

Minutes:

The Portfolio Holder for Economic Development, Regeneration and Strategic Partnerships presented the Levelling Up Fund - former Market Hall and Windsor Street site report and advised Members that £14.5m had been awarded from the Levelling Up fund. The Board was informed that some of the funding was to be utilised to develop a cultural and creative hub in Bromsgrove town centre. Prior to the officer presentation Councillor K. May thanked all of the officers involved in putting the successful bid together and stated that this was very exciting and a one-off opportunity for Bromsgrove and its residents.

 

Mr O. Paparega, Head of North Worcestershire Economic Development and Regeneration (NWEDR), provided further detail regarding the report and its content and indoing so Members’ attention was drawn to the following:

 

·       Market Hall site – It was planned that this would be the site of the cultural and creative hub. In addition to this there would be flexible working space provision for start-up businessesand a public art gallery would also be included in the project with the hope of attracting people to the town centre.

·       Windsor Street – the project at this site would be pre-development i.e., preparing the site in readiness for development.

·       The delivery timescales had recently been revised by Central Government to March 2025, which gave officers an extra 12-months to deliver the projects. However, under the Memorandum of Understanding, there was the possibility that a clawback clause could be triggered by Central Government should any of the funding remain unspent by the new deadline. Additional risks included the costs of the developments and delivery risk including resourcing and supplies. A detailed risk register was in place and would be monitored closely.

 

The Chairman invited Councillor G. Denaro, who was in attendance in his role as Portfolio Holder for Finance and Enabling to comment on the report and he reiterated that this was a great opportunity and might alleviate revenue pressures on the Council.

 

Although some Members were interested in the future of the United Reform Church on the Windsor Street site, they were informed that as it was a privately owned building it was not appropriate to discuss at a public meeting.

 

Some Members were interested in better understanding what the new role of the Programme Manager at NWEDR would be and whether this resource was already available within NWEDR. It was explained that there was a small team at NWEDR and with such complex projects, a wide spectrum of disciplines and strict deadlines involved it was important to have the correct resourcing available. 

 

During a robust debate the following areas were also discussed by Members:

 

·       Public consultation – Officers confirmed that public consultation would certainly take place at the appropriate time and would be publicised accordingly.

·       Funding had been received from the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) for the feasibility study for the bid and from Worcestershire County Council (WCC).

·       A Feasibility Study was currently underway regarding the clearance of the Windsor Street site.

 

The Chairman echoed that this was a very exciting opportunity for the District and that he would be interested to see the funding bid that had been submitted in order to measure the success of the implementation. Officers undertook to provide the summary of the bid for the Board’s information. Finally, there was discussion regarding the governance of the Programme Board and the Chairman thought that it would be appropriate to have additional elected Members on the Programme Board e.g., the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Enabling and the Portfolio Holder for Planning and Regulatory Services. Councillor K. May informed Members that she would speak to the relevant officers to see if this was a possibility and would be happy to include these members on the Programme Board if appropriate.

 

RESOLVED that Levelling Up Fund - former Market Hall and Windsor Street sites report be noted.

 

 

Supporting documents: