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Agenda and minutes
Contact: Email: Towndeal@hastings.gov.uk
Items No. Item Welcome and apologies
11:00
Minutes:
Apologies received from Jane Hartnell, Mark Moore, Hannah Caldwell, Liz Coleman, Sean Dennis, Sally-Ann Hart, Jess Steele, and Ian Sycamore
Declarations of interest
11:05
Minutes:
Cllr Maya Evans declared that she is the Hastings Borough Council (HBC) champion for the Public Realm and Green Connections project.
Minutes of the last meeting (27/04/23) and matters arising PDF 115 KB
11:10
Minutes:
Accepted as an accurate record.
Matters arising:
· Page 3, Terms of reference for Garden Town, HBC and the Public Realm Project. First draft completed and initial meetings held. Further updates to be given under section 5. Project Updates
· Page 3, Public Realm, dialogue and design. The brief to the consultants includes drawing in key stakeholders, including HBC ground maintenance, to ensure local community engagement and future maintenance and development. Key stakeholders to include Education Futures Trust, Plumpton College, Garden Town and local businesses
· Page 4 – Actions. An email has been sent to all the projects to request project documentation that may be shared publicly, and the responses are being collated. The sharing of the information will be via the Website but is pending the recruitment of the new Communications Officer
· Kit Godfrey (Hastings Commons) requested that any materials potentially impacting the Hastings Commons sites and projects be shared with him. Pranesh to arrange a meeting to discuss.
Programme progress update PDF 93 KB
11:20
· Town Deal Programme update
· Communications update
· Programme finance update
· Homes England update
Minutes:
1.
2.
3.
4.
4.1. Town Deal Programme Update
Confirmation of the increased budget to the Public Realm and Green Connections project was received from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) at the end of May and work is continuing completing the Grant Funding Agreement.
Pranesh highlighted five projects that have completed their capital build, confirming that monitoring continues for the project outputs and impact.
It was brought to the attention of the Board that the ground floor offices provided by the Town Centre Core Project 1a, Priory Meadow (Fast Track) have been vacated by Jobcentre Plus (JCP). The Gym Group continues to occupy the upper floor.
Andrew Harvey from NewRiver REIT provided an update. The offices were and continue to be let to a third party, The Instant Group, who facilitated the occupation of the JCP. They will be seeking new tenants.
Pranesh also reminded the board of the four accelerator projects, also completed. These consisted of the White Rock Courtyard Project, Improvements to the Alley Way behind the Observer Building, a Conference venue at the College and several EV charging points. These were enabled by the first £1m accelerated fund provided under the Towns Fund.
Pranesh advised that the business case phase of the programme is now complete and that the programme is now fully in implementation and delivery phase.
Regarding the programme team, Pranesh advised that the Investment Manager role had now been filled by Joseph Brown. He has a background as an architect, in surveying, cost consultancy and project management. He will start in September and will be engaging with the Public Realm project and other projects that HBC is heavily involved in.
Following the departure of the communications officer in January, the team has been trying to recruit a replacement. The delay has resulted in the blogs and website being slightly out of date. Pranesh indicated that this role would be filled shortly following the final interviews and an offer being made to one of the candidates.
Pranesh also announced the team had lost Ian Sycamore with his move to a different department. Carole Dixon, Co-Chair echoed the thanks offered by Pranesh and re-iterated how Ian’s support and input had been fundamental to the success of the programme and wished to formally record the thanks of the board. Graham Peters, Co-Chair, re-iterated the board’s thanks for all he had done, and in particular, the calm and measured manner in which this was approached. Both wished him good luck and many thanks.
4.2. Communications Update
The update was brief with a request to project leads to update the team with items to be shared. Hannah Collins also highlighted that the communications officer role had been offered and would, hopefully be recruited soon. She re-iterated that it was known the website and blog were slightly out of date and asked to be advised of any updates by the project leads, pending the start of the new communications officer.
4.3. Programme Finance Update
The latest ... view the full minutes text for item 4.
Project updates (10 minutes each + questions) PDF 1 MB
11.35
· Project lead updates
o Hastings Town Centre Co-Working - Nathalie Tulip
o Town Centre Public Realm and Green Connections – Ellie McDaniel, ESCC and Nicole Collomb (Garden Town)
o Green Construction, Energy and Vehicle Centre of Excellence – Nathan Haffenden, ESCG
Additional documents:
- Presentation 2 - Public Realm and Green Connections , item 5. PDF 1 MB
- Presentation 3 - Green Construction , item 5. PDF 747 KB
Minutes:
5.1 Hastings Town Centre Co-Working – Presenter Nathalie Tulip
A copy of the presentation is appended to these minutes.
· Key points
o First to complete, including delivering all the outputs
o 9 Spaces with 3000+ active members across the Southeast. Hastings’ capacity is 150 members
o Renovations to an iconic town centre building
o Delivered additional Office space with the opportunity for more, with additional funding
o Open 24/7 with “no fuss” offering to members
o 60% occupancy confirmed prior to the doors opening for business
o Green retrofit
Nat Tulip advised they received great feedback from the environmental impact assessment carried out at the end the project, this praised the physical accessibility, affordability and friendliness. So far, attracting only five-star reviews on Google.
Nat also advised that the future plans were to extend to the fifth floor and extend Barclays Eagle Lab to the Hastings membership having signed a 2-year partnership agreement for the West Sussex locations. This will bring Hastings members access to a Barclays ecosystem manager and all the support that Barclays offers in terms of mentorship and access to funding.
Freedom Works is also planning to bring additional sites into the portfolio, extending the space available to their membership.
In wrapping up the presentation, Nat re-iterated the need for additional funding to renovate the fifth floor.
Q&A
Q. James Harris asked what the occupancy level was post the opening and what who forms the membership.
A. Occupancy was confirmed as 80%. The membership is made up of small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs), start-ups, freelancers, and solo entrepreneurs who cover a wide range of industries and services. There are many creatives, designers and tech businesses.
Jon Trigg related that one of the founding members was a Hastings resident who had offices in Brighton and London to attract the right talent base. Having a facility such as Freedom Works allows him to attract talent locally, which is great for the local economy. Their team has grown from 3 to 9. Additionally, a new start-up between a food critic and a wine buyer to promote local produce is another example of the wide industry base supported by the facility.
Q. Victoria Conheady asked if there was an opportunity to work closer with both East Sussex College Group and Plumpton College to look at support around recruitment and skills development.
A. Jon confirmed that Freedom Works already works with apprentice agencies and some colleges and would welcome an introduction to the Chief Executives of ESCG and Plumpton.
Q. Victoria also asked if the Freedom Works membership would be interested in helping with the Youth Futures Programme research in terms of what they see as barriers to young people accessing the workforce.
A. Jon confirmed he was happy to facilitate introductions to the membership.
Q. Cllr Maya Evans asked what reductions or incentives may be available to projects that are of social community value.
A. Jon responded that discounts were offered to non-profit organisations and Community Interest Companies, CICs. This ... view the full minutes text for item 5.
Any other business
12.15
Minutes:
Victoria Conheady advised that HBC, East Sussex County Council and Rother had received engagements packs regarding Levelling Up Partnerships and would provide an update at the next Town Deal Board meeting.
Graham Peters announced that Carole Dixon would be retiring from chairing the Town Deal Board meetings and he would be stepping down from chairing Team East Sussex. Consequently, the opportunity would be taken to review the shape of the board and other boards relating to regeneration and Hastings.
Date of next meeting:
Minutes:
Wednesday, 25th October 2023 via Microsoft Teams
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