Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King's Lynn PE30 5DQ. View directions

Contact: Rebecca Parker, Democratic Services, 01553 616632 

Items
No. Item

RD44:

Appointment of Vice Chair for the meeting

Minutes:

RESOLVED: Councillor Manning was appointed Vice Chair for the meeting.

RD45:

Apologies for absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Long and Parish.

 

On behalf of the Panel the Chair asked for it to be recorded that their thoughts and best wishes were with Councillor Parish and Chris Bamfield.

RD46:

Minutes pdf icon PDF 75 KB

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting.

Minutes:

RESOLVED: The minutes from the previous meeting were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

RD47:

Declarations of Interest

Please indicate if there are any interests which should be declared.  A declaration of interest should indicate the nature of the interest (if not already declared on the Register of Interests) and the agenda item to which it relates.  If a disclosable pecuniary interest is declared, the Member should withdraw from the room whilst the matter is discussed.

 

Those declarations apply to all Members present, whether the Member is part of the meeting, attending to speak as a local Member on an item or simply observing the meeting from the public seating area.

Minutes:

Councillor de Whalley declared an interest in RD52: Guildhall Expression of Interest and National Lottery Heritage Fund as he was involved in Shakespeare’s Guildhall Trust.

RD48:

Urgent Business

To consider any business which, by reason of special circumstances, the Chair proposes to accept as urgent under Section 100(b)(4)(b) of the Local Government Act, 1972.

Minutes:

There was none.

RD49:

Members Present Pursuant to Standing Order 34

Members wishing to speak pursuant to Standing Order 34 should inform the Chair of their intention to do so and on what items they wish to be heard before the meeting commences.  Any Member attending the meeting under Standing Order 34 will only be permitted to speak on those items which have been previously notified to the Chair.

Minutes:

Councillor Howland – all items.

RD50:

Chair's Correspondence

If any.

Minutes:

There was none.

RD51:

Q1 2019-2020 Corporate Performance Monitoring pdf icon PDF 147 KB

Minutes:

The Senior Policy and Performance Officer presented the report.  He explained that there were eighteen indicators which fell under the Regeneration and Development Panel’s remit.  Of those eighteen, ten had met target, seven were monitored annually and one had not met target.

 

BD3 - % of rent achievable on retail/general units had not met target.  It was reported that there were two town centre shops, which were owned by the Borough Council, which were currently vacant.  The Panel’s attention was drawn to the Service Managers comments which were included in the report.

 

The Chair thanked the Senior Policy and Performance Officer for his report and invited questions and comments from the Panel, as summarised below.

 

In response to questions from Councillor Ryves, the Assistant Director explained that the Council used a variety of ways to negotiate deals with tenants for commercial premises and provided details of the units which were currently empty in the town centre.  He explained that the Borough Council only owned a small amount of units in the town centre, many were privately owned and the Council did have a good relationship with the Vancouver Quarter.

 

The Portfolio Holder for Business Development, Councillor Middleton reiterated that a lot of empty units were privately owned and the Council did try and work with landlords, however it could be difficult to find out who owned the units.  He explained that there was a lot of work ongoing to try and increase activity in the town centre including, the Future High Street Fund and working with other organisations.

 

In response to a question from Councillor Ryves, the Portfolio Holder for Business Development explained that approximately 6% of shops were vacant in the town centre.  The national average was approximately 7.5%.  He explained that it was considered healthy to have a vacancy rate of 5% so that turnaround opportunities could be created.

 

RESOLVED: The Panel reviewed the performance monitoring report and agreed the actions outlined in the Action Report.

RD52:

Guildhall Expression of Interest and National Lottery Heritage Fund pdf icon PDF 132 KB

Members will receive a presentation at the meeting and background documents including the Expression of Interest are included in the Agenda.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The THI Project Officer provided the Panel with an update on the Guildhall Expression of Interest and National Lottery Heritage Fund, as attached.

 

The Chair thanked the THI Project Officer for the update and invited questions and comments from the Panel, as summarised below.

 

Councillor Bambridge referred to the two options for the Guildhall layout and asked if the designs had been considered by a Fire Officer.  The THI Officer explained that the design was still in the early stages and the architects were theatre specialists.

 

In response to a question from Councillor Bone, it was explained that lift access would be provided.  It was clarified that the lift access would be straight into the auditorium and would utilise an existing opening.

 

In response to a question from Councillor de Whalley, it was explained that the designs were in the very early stages and would go out for consultation with stakeholders.  Councillor de Whalley referred to an alternative proposal put forward by the Shakespeare’s Guildhall Trust and it was explained that this would be taken into consideration as part of the consultation process.

 

It was also clarified that the seating layout would allow for a space between the rear seats and the window, and could form a small lobby.

 

The Chair commented that she liked the flexibility of the layout and that a side stage layout could be accommodated.

 

RESOLVED: The Panel noted the update.

 

 

RD53:

Exclusion of Press and Public

To consider passing the following resolution:

 

“That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act”.

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.

RD54:

EXEMPT - Future High Street Fund

Members will receive the outline proposals and then participate in a Workshop session to look at the different options.

Minutes:

The Assistant Director provided the Panel with details of the Future High Street Fund and progress in developing an application for funding.  The Panel was informed that their comments on the proposals would be taken into consideration during the development of the business case and a further update would be presented to the Panel at their next meeting, prior to submission to Cabinet.

 

The Panel made comments on the proposals and Councillor Howland addressed the Panel under Standing Order 34. 

 

The Portfolio Holder for Business Development thanked the Panel Members for their comments and suggestions which would be considered during development of the Business Case.

 

The Chair thanked the Panel for a productive discussion.

 

RESOLVED: The Panel considered and made suggestions on the proposed schemes.

RD55:

Work Programme and Forward Decision List pdf icon PDF 67 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The following items were identified for possible addition to the Work Programme:

 

·        Shakespeare’s Guildhall Trust be invited to a future meeting to give a presentation – Councillor de Whalley

·        Future High Street Fund update would be presented to the December meeting.

 

RESOLVED: The Panel’s Work Programme was noted.

RD56:

Date of the next meeting

To note that the next meeting of the Regeneration & Development Panel is scheduled to take place on Wednesday 11th December 2019 at 6.00pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King’s Lynn.

Minutes:

The next meeting of the Regeneration and Development Panel would be held on Tuesday 17th December 2019 at 6.00pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King’s Lynn.