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Agenda and minutes
Venue: Council Chamber - Muriel Matters House, Breeds Place, Hastings TN34 3UY. View directions
Contact: Democratic Services on Email: democraticservices@hastings.gov.uk or 01424 451484
Items No. Item Welcome, introductions and apologies
10:00
Minutes:
Everyone was welcomed to the meeting.
Members present:
Carole Dixon Hastings Community Network
Graham Peters SELEP and Team East Sussex
Andrew Harvey New River Reit
Catherine Parr BID Love Hastings Ltd
Clive Galbraith Hastings Area Chamber of Commerce
Cllr Kim Forward Hastings Borough Council
Dan Shelley East Sussex College Group
Dawn Dublin Unveiled
Helen Kay Hastings Opportunity Area
James Harris East Sussex County Council
Jane Hartnell Hastings Borough Council
Jess Steele Heritage Action Zone
Kate Adams Hastings and Rother Cultural Leaders Group
Liz Coleman Hastings and Rother Interfaith Forum
Richard Moore The Source Park
Richard Watson NHS East Sussex CCG
Sally-Ann Hart MP for Hastings and Rother
Sean Dennis Let’s Do Business Group
Steve Manwaring Hastings Voluntary Action
Others in attendance:
Iain McNab Cities and Local Growth Unit
Rebecca Collings The Nicholls Group
Simon Hubbard Hastings Voluntary Action
Terry Hume East Sussex County Council
Officers present:
Chantal Lass Tackling Climate Change Programme Manager
Hannah Brookshaw Regeneration Manager
Pranesh Datta Economic Development Manager
Stephen Dodson Transformation Manager
Victoria Conheady Assistant Director, Regeneration and Culture
Apologies were noted from: Stuart Mitchell, Victoria Spencer-Hughes
Minutes of the last meeting (4th March 2020), matters arising and refresh of visioning PDF 195 KB
Minutes:
The minutes were agreed as a true record.
Matters arising:
· Recruitment of the Regeneration Communications Officer wasn’t noted as an action point but is now being reconsidered in light of the further guidance document. Action 3 – Slido questionnaire – 7 returns were received. The project submission form which was circulated will give everyone the opportunity to provide input
· Action 4 – Declaration of Interest forms – need to be returned by Board members by 3rd July. If the form is not returned, partner’s positions on the board may have to be re-considered because completion of the form is part of the brief that the HBC has been given. Victoria Conheady or Hannah Brookshaw may be contacted if there are any queries.
Updates and current position
10:15
· Interconnected strategic workstreams
· Covid-19 recovery
· Any other urgent items
Minutes:
As partners are aware, COVID-19 has delayed a number of things, including this programme. A number of interconnected things that are starting have common themes and will need to be delivered to drive sustainable economic regeneration of the town and deliver long term economic productivity and growth. These can also be used as a starting point for conversations with the community:
· East Sussex Economy Recovery Plan – is the immediate response to COVID-19 with some actions that are already happening. The plan has eight thematic areas:
· Expand low carbon, transport and energy infrastructure
· Help local businesses adapt, recover and grow
· New inward investment
· Restart the visitor economy
· Local supplier and procurement opportunities
· Adapting and improving place making
· Digital connectivity and retaining skills infrastructure
· Supporting employment and building resilience of the workforce
Some partners may have already responded to this draft plan, but further input will be welcome.
· Coastal Prospectus – is a joint document across the local South East Local Enterprise Partnership area, which has a vision to improve the economic performance around the coast, to grow the economy and narrow the gap across the area
· Hastings Local Plan – is a statutory function and is currently being refreshed
· Hastings and Rother Task Force Regeneration review – looks at regeneration activity that has been delivered in Hastings since 2001. £590m capital improvements have happened but still need to level up and deprivation is still an issue
All of these pieces of work are underway and will inform the context, analysis, strategy and priorities of the town investment plan, although a lot of work still has to be done to bring this all together.
In addition, the Hastings Opportunity Area has been extended for a 4th year. Further details on are still awaited and work is underway on the year 4 plan. It is important to take forward the quality of education and links made with it when planning any economic regeneration work.
Jess asked if it was possible to have the above-mentioned documents in a shared site. Action 1: This will be taken up with HBC’s IT department.
Town Deal further guidance PDF 880 KB
10:30
· Voting decision needed on investment plan submission date
· Briefing note and full guidance (attached)
· Key work for the short term:
o Amended terms of reference
o Membership
o Investment plan and engagement tenders
Minutes:
Carole explained that further guidance was recently released. This emphasises that 90% of the funding is for capital investment and the revenue element will have to be sought elsewhere. There are other areas that are made clear: 1) focus should be on the town centre, but will include other areas 2) business-led thinking is encouraged although it is recognised that we want this to be community-led, this will have to be a business-led piece of work, 3) in response to COVID-19, but it needs to be medium to long term response rather than short term, which fits with the timescales and three themes, urban regeneration, skills and enterprise infrastructure and connectivity. In terms of the process, there are three potential deadlines and opportunities to submit the investment plan: 31st July, 31st October or 31st January 2021. We are not competing against other towns and there is no merit in rushing into submit an early plan. The guidance is clear that submissions have to be right first time and that there will only be one other chance to develop this further and re-submit if the first submission is not up to scratch.
The first decision for this board to make is to agree the date of submission of the investment plan. Victoria added that there would be a significant benefit to run this programme with some alignment with the Hastings local plan consultation given the spatial requirements and that public consultation will be starting in September/October. We would need to work quickly to get the initial priority projects identified by that period to work up a full consultation on these. The council, as lead authority recommends this be 31st January 2021. In the case that the projects identified have a revenue element, James Harris asked for clarification as to whether there is any flexibility in the programme. Iain McNab advised that 10% of revenue funding is across the whole programme and not per place. The presumption is that this is a predominantly capital programme and a case can be made for revenue projects, but funding will only be granted on exceptional grounds.
Dan asked if we go for the last deadline, will those submitting against the first two deadlines receive the bulk of the funding. It was reiterated that is has been made clear in the guidance that this is not the case and we are not competing against other Town Deal areas.
There was general agreement that a longer lead in time would enable sufficient time to do the work needed, for consultation with the community and would work better in case there is a second wave of COVID-19.
The meeting unanimously agreed that the investment plan will be submitted on 31st January 2021. It is expected that a decision on this and Heads of Terms will be signed by the end of March 2021. There will be up to a year to work on the next phase – producing business cases, with then a ... view the full minutes text for item 15.
Town Deal project submissions workshop session
10:55
Discussion on project ideas by thematic area based on the submissions received prior to the meeting
Minutes:
Victoria explained that the focus of this session is to identify any ‘shovel ready’ projects, identify new ideas, focus on interventions in the town centre and open up discussions from partners.
In summary, there are 52 potential projects, mostly broad and macro in detail:
- 9 Local transport
- 2 Digital Connectivity
- 22 Urban regeneration, planning and land use
- 5 Arts, Culture and heritage
- 10 Skills infrastructure
- 4 Enterprise infrastructure
Some of the emerging town centre projects are:
· White Rock Baths courtyard enterprise project – Richard explained that this is phase 2 of the project, following the phase 1 work that started in 2013, which resulted in The Source Park opening in 2016. There are a number of rooms alongside the courtyard and the idea is that The Source will be the anchor tenant and a hub for retail leisure and hospitality will be created. The feasibility study has been completed and the project is ready to go. There was general support for this project and that this project was worth exploring further and building it up to be one of the potential projects
· Observer building project – Jess explained that the building has been derelict for 35 years. It was bought in February 2019, is 4,000 sq metres in size over seven stories. The planning application was submitted on 1st May and is viewable on the HBC website and partner support and comments is sought. The building is part of the Hastings Commons which started with Rock House in 2014 and now includes a whole range of building in that small area clustered around the alley in Claremont. Rock House has six affordable flats, 42 micro enterprises and a community kitchen. The Observer could give 166 full time equivalent long-term jobs when completed as well as 10 gross job years during construction. The jobs will be for local people, so when going out to tender, local labour and supplier clauses will be written. Phase 1 has been funded and is ready to start, tendering will start in September and it is expected works will commence in November, and completed in Summer next year. the next phase is for the alley level and ground floor, universal access, putting the lift in, allowing access from the front door and the alley level. This project will be explored further as a potential project.
· Heritage Action Zone capital projects (12 Claremont) – Kate explained that Heart of Hastings and Project Artworks led the community asset transfer for the building. The plan is for a phased development over the next 3-5 years, depending on the speed at the right capital funds can be acquired, to create an ultra-inclusive town centre community hub with focus on a gallery and project space on the ground floor, that will represent neuro-divergent artists and makers and also provide space for family carers and pier support training and volunteer opportunities. The basement will be a project space that will provide wide access to communities for various uses and will be ... view the full minutes text for item 16.
Establishment of thematic area working groups
11:40
· Working groups based on intervention areas in Annex A of further guidance:
o Local transport
o Digital connectivity
o Urban regeneration, planning and land use
o Arts, culture and heritage
o Skills infrastructure
o Enterprise infrastructure
Minutes:
Steve explained that the proposal is that we move to setting up working groups each led by a member of the board to look at intervention areas based on the guidance. By doing so, we will have the opportunity to move beyond this board structure and input could be sought from other partners who are not members of this board. Terms of reference will be set up and chairs of the groups will be members of this board. It is intended to align this work with other working groups that are happening, bearing in mind the available resources and timescales of this work.
A way forward will be identified following this meeting as there was concern around capacity of board members to participate in this set-up.
New members to the Town Deal Board
11:50
Minutes:
Both Liz and Dawn indicated their agreement to join the board and were welcomed.
Date of next meeting:
2pm, Thursday, 17th September 2020
Minutes:
2pm, Thursday, 17th September 2020
Ad hoc meetings may be called as and when required.
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