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Agenda and minutes
Venue: Microsoft Teams
Contact: Email: Towndeal@hastings.gov.uk
Items No. Item Welcome and apologies
11:00
Minutes:
Apologies have been received from Carole Dixon, James Harris, Victoria Conheady, Carole Crathern, Andy Harvey, Justin Thomas, Richard Dawson and Cllr Maya Evans.
The chair extended his thanks and praise for everything Carole has done as co-chair of this board and for the town. He will be writing a letter on behalf of the board to reflect this.
Declarations of interest
11:05
Minutes:
None received.
Minutes of the last meeting (5th July 2023) and matters arising PDF 136 KB
11:10
Minutes:
Accepted as an accurate record.
Matters arising:
· Project documentation sharing/collaborating on procurement – the process is underway. Suzanne Oakley will be facilitating this with the college and other lead partners.
· Communications role – Suzanne is now in post.
· Levelling up Partnerships – last March Hastings was identified as one of the 20 towns and discussions commenced with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) last month. It is understood that approximately £20m funding (75% capital and 25% revenue) will be available this financial year and next. DLUHC is leading on the engagement work and will be directly contacting local stakeholders to gather views on both the socio-economic issues of the town and any project ideas. It is hoped they will have concluded the discussions by mid-November and their research by the end of November. There will then be further discussion at ministerial level and with the council on what to progress.
· DLUHC has not set a date for a workshop as 1-2-1 engagement is being carried out. Cllr Paul Barnett assured the board that he will be putting forward housing, health and culture as the main priorities.
· The council’s capacity to manage LUP and the Long-Term Town Plan will be discussed once the programmes become clearer and the council’s budget proposals impact is considered. This will be released next month and will discuss proposal to safeguard regeneration planning capacity by finding new ways of funding it outside of the revenue pressures.
Project updates
· Project lead updates
11.20
o Hastings Commons, Jess Steele and Kit Godfrey
11.30
o Town Centre Public Realm and Green Connections – Ellie McDaniel, ESCC and ARUP
Minutes:
4.1 Hastings Commons – Presenters Jess Steele and Kit Godfrey
· Key points:
o A community-led approach to neighbourhood transformation focused on the assets in the White Rock area.
o Brings spaces into use to create environments where people can enhance their lives, shape their neighbourhoods, look out for each other and the place.
o Hastings Commons now owns over 8000 square meters of difficult and derelict property which is being transformed into affordable homes, capped rent work spaces and social spaces.
o The Town Deal project involves 3 buildings: Eagle House and 12 Claremont (both going out to tender in January 2024 with construction starting in March), and the Observer Building (the OBX creative technology hub is now operational and Hastings Commons has secured planning permission to build 12 flats within the building)
Q&A / Comments:
Q. Emma Smith asked about the technologies involved in the project and if this is linked up to local businesses and companies in the sector.
A. Jess confirmed yes and that there has been a lot of outreach, which is ongoing. At first it was more generic outreach but now it is through the OBX connects events. The project is constantly trying to inspire new thinking so that new businesses or organisations get interested in the field.
Q. Emma also asked if any universities have been involved in any way.
A. Jess confirmed that the project is not connected to any particular universities.
Emma will put Jess in touch with others who are doing this kind of work in other parts of the region.
4.2 Town Centre Public Realm and Green Connections – Ellie McDaniel, Mike Wood and Thomas Weake
· Key points:
o The project aims to improve the public realm and green infrastructure along Havelock Road and in the town centre.
o Pending final contract signing, Arup has been appointed as consultant for the next stage of design and consultation.
o The next stage of the project is split into 3 stages: 1) evaluation and engagement for RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) stage 2 – this is already underway, 2) develop the design to RIBA stage 3 incorporating stakeholder feedback and 3) submit a planning application that will support the next stages of design.
o The concept design report, the work carried out to date to understand the assets, challenges, opportunities, constraints and vision of the area were summarised for the meeting.
o A summary of the design plans will be circulated in due course.
Q&A / Comments:
Jess commented that it is good to finally see this happening but stressed the importance of the connection to other things, including the integration with Priory Street and Cambridge Road, which is critical, although Homes England is interested in those areas. We can’t just wait for Homes England and have two totally separate approaches to the space; it does need to be seen in context.
The Garden Town needs a social programme running alongside the physical, not just a community ... view the full minutes text for item 4.
Programme progress update PDF 113 KB
11:45
1.1Town Deal Programme update – PD, report attached.
· Main items for discussion Hastings Castle and Town Living project
1.2Communications update – (5.2) SO, verbal update
1.3Programme finance update (5.3) – RK, report attached.
1.4Hastings Station Gateway Project update (see update 5.4) – PD.
5.5 Long Term Plans for Towns – PD - see also link - Long Term Plan for Towns - Gov
Minutes:
5.1 Programme overview
Pranesh focussed on two key Hastings Castle and Town Living.
Hastings Castle – the council had intended to deliver the project, however, since submission of the business case, it is now in a different financial position, which affects this project. The council would now like to explore alternative ways to deliver the project and bring in a partner to assist in the delivery of the scheme. It is intended that expressions of interest will be invited from potential operators, developers or project managers. The submissions will then be assessed for suitability before firmer proposals to work with the council are sought. It is hoped that the invitation will be sent out by next week. Any interested parties should be referred to Pranesh. Post meeting note: further information and details for the expression of interest can be found here
Town Living – this project intended to focus on a council property in Wellington Square. Again, this will be a challenge to deliver due to the council’s current financial position and discussions on alternative ways of delivering homes in the town centre will be opened up shortly.
There was general consensus to proceed with above two projects as presented.
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5.2 Communications update
Suzanne Oakley started as the new Communications and Engagement Officer at the beginning of September. She introduced herself and updated:
· A project leads meeting was held earlier this month
· She has been working on updating the Town Deal blog pages and has uploaded some project documentation and asked projects to continue to submit any relevant information (email: Towndeal@hastings.gov.uk)
· Another Town Deal Open Day is being planned for 27th January at Priory Meadow Shopping Centre
5.3 Programme finance update
Ruth Kynoch, Project and Finance officer presented and noted that there has not been much change on spend due to the current status of the projects, but it is expected this will start changing imminently.
5.4 Hastings Station Gateway project update
Work continues and Homes England is now producing a Strategic Regeneration Investment Framework. The main areas included in this piece of work are Priory Street car park and the surrounding buildings, Queensbury House, the station yard site, the gateway points through Devonshire Road and Cambridge Gardens.
A stakeholder workshop is being held on 20th November which some board members are invited to. Additional consultation work will also be carried out after the workshop.
5.5 Long Term Investment Plan for Towns – Endowment Fund
There will be a need to review the structure of this board and others but not immediately. It may be best to wait until DLUHC have responded to the questions that the council have raised, although it is also intended to work on developing a plan over the next months which will take us to April.
There was a reminder that this board is a sub group of the Local Strategic Partnership, which will also need to review its membership and how it supports other structures and ... view the full minutes text for item 5.
Any other business
12.15
Minutes:
HBC Overview and Scrutiny Committee – has considered the activities of this board and the programme as a whole and have made some recommendations in relation to the way the programme is run and managed. These will be circulated to everyone and will be considered and responded to in due course.
Owens Entertainment – it was clarified that refurbishment work is ongoing and the intention is to re-open after the New Year or slightly later. A meeting with the new management team at Owens and the landlord is scheduled for 9th November and the board will be kept informed if there is any new information to share.
Date of next meeting: 11:00, Thursday, 25th January 2024
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