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Agenda and minutes
Contact: Email: Towndeal@hastings.gov.uk
Items No. Item Welcome and apologies
10:00
Minutes:
Apologies have been received from: Chantal Lass, Darrell Gale, Jane Hartnell, Justin Thomas, Liz Coleman, Ruby Crowhurst and Victoria Conheady
Declarations of interest
10:05
Minutes:
None received.
Minutes of the last meeting and matters arising PDF 243 KB
10:10
Minutes:
Accepted as an accurate record.
Former Debenhams Building presentations
10:20
· Nathalie Tulip from Freedom Works
· Justin Manning from Owens Entertainment
(10 minutes each + questions)
Minutes:
Two projects have successfully been allocated Town Deal funding following approval of their business cases. 1) Owens Entertainment Centre and 2) Freedom Works’ Hastings co-working, flexible office space, which are both located in the former Debenhams building:
Owens Entertainment Centre – Justin Manning from Owens Entertainment explained:
· Development of the entertainment centre is going well, and it is hoped it can be officially opened on or around 14th October
· The Towns Fund grant is being used to extend the centre’s originally planned offer, therefore allowing for more attractions to be created
· Entry to the centre is through 1-3 Robertson Street (the former Debenhams perfume counter), where the bistro and information centre are located. Also on the ground floor are six bowling lanes, a table tennis court, pool tables, two state of the art football simulators and the 1066 immersive experience
· On the 1st floor will be the soft play centre, café and main garden bar where daily free of charge entertainment will be available, 10-pin bowling, an amusement arcade, a virtually reality centre and a wild west immersive experience
· On the 2nd floor, there will be a 140-seat themed carvery restaurant which will offer breakfast, lunch and dinner
· On the 3rd floor, there will be three indoor golf courses, a wonders of wizardry immersive experience, the Soar Tour virtual reality ride soaring over Hastings and the South Coast, Jurassica Live dinosaur themed experience, Oddity Museum, a maze and a vault themed game
· Energy prices for the centre have been successfully fixed for 3 years
· Entry to the centre will be free of charge and all of the attractions are individually priced, lower than others across the country. A local resident’s discount pass is also being developed
· There will be 75-90 full time equivalent jobs available at the centre, estimated to equate to 120-130 part time jobs. Around 75 applicants have been recruited and 12 of these are doing a first aid course today. Another tranche of staff will be brought in during the week commencing 3rd October and the soft launch events will take place during the second and third week of October
Hastings co-working, flexible office space – Nathalie Tulip and Jon Trigg from Freedom Works:
· Freedom Works was founded in 2016 and its mission is to create flexible working space across regional towns in the Southeast. Locations include Worthing, Southampton, Chichester, Gatwick and Hastings
· There are 9 branches in total and 3000 active members, including Let’s Do Business Group which is moving into the Hastings space during the week after next. Each space has its own hotdesking spaces, meeting rooms, break out areas and event spaces
· Freedom Works also provides a space for collaborative working between its members, curated business support to members which includes seminars, and has a “no faff” policy, ensuring everything that would be needed in an office space is readily available for its members
· Working in partnership with curators of business support is also being looked into for the ... view the full minutes text for item 90.
Programme progress update PDF 251 KB
10:50
· Town Deal Programme update
· Decisions of the Town Deal Investment Panel
· General project update
· Business case progress report by theme
· Communications update
· Complaint regarding the process of selecting projects at the early stage of the programme
· Equalities Impact Assessment
· Programme finance update
· Subsidy Control
Additional documents:
Minutes:
· Town Deal Programme update
Pranesh Datta, Economic Development Manager at HBC presented the progress to date and updated on the Priory Street car park and Priory Meadow projects, and Homes England’s interest in Hastings town centre.
The Observer Building is aiming to create 15 affordable flats, although it does not have access to sufficient funding. The possibility of involving Hastings Commons in the conversations with Homes England will be raised. Action: Pranesh
The number of new homes to be created stated in the Town Investment Plan is 200 and it is understood that the sites Homes England want to explore may create more than this, although the full scale of work is not yet understood. The MP asked to be kept in the loop regarding the indicative timelines which DLUHC has provided. The importance of addressing health and inequalities and creating lifetime homes was also raised. Public Health is also happy to be involved in early discussions as needed.
· Decisions of the Town Deal Investment Panel
Ian Sycamore, External Funding Manager at HBC summarised the decisions of the investment panel on the recently submitted and approved business cases: 1) Former Debenhams Site, 2) Green Construction, Energy and Vehicle Training Centre, 3) Town Living and 4) Public Realm and Green Connections.
These decisions were noted by the meeting.
It is understood that the ‘Right to Buy’ scheme exists for all social housing landlords, including the local authority, therefore potentially affecting the Town Living project. Community land trusts are exempt from right to buy and the importance of protecting long term investments was noted for future discussions. This will be looked into and the board updated. Action: Pranesh
· General project update
Broadening Futures Together
Carole Dixon explained that the partnership between Education Futures Trust and Plumpton College is developing, and the service level agreement has now been signed. A pilot accredited course was run very successfully just before the summer break and the site was also improved as part of this course. A difficulty though is that the project is still being delivered without a building. Work on the drainage and highways are both out to tender. The first full course will be starting tomorrow (23rd September) and promotion of the courses will start once the works have been completed and the classroom is in place. The project is also meeting with the Garden Town next month to look at collaborative working opportunities around the Public Realm and Green Connections project.
Hastings Commons
Jess Steele explained that the Observer Building was made weatherproof but very unfortunately the sprinkler system pipe burst and poured 40,000 liters of stored building water through it. The team worked all night to manage the water and the damage created will be covered by the contractor’s insurance, however, the plaster and flooring will have to be re-done. On a positive note, the creative digital hub which will be going into the building has been running a pilot programme about 3-D scanning. 300 local people have ... view the full minutes text for item 91.
Date of next meeting:
· 11:30am, Tuesday, 22nd November 2022
Minutes:
11:30, Tuesday, 22nd November 2022
The chair thanked everyone for their contributions into this work despite its challenges and for putting their energy into Hastings which is getting better as a result of everyone’s efforts.
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