Agenda item

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The Executive Director, Place presented the report on the following projects and explained that it was hoped that there would be more alignment in 2024 and eventually reports would only be only one month behind.

NORA EZ Infrastructure Project

NORA EZ Development of Spec Units – Phase 1

Parkway (Florence Fields)

Salters Road

Southend Road Project

West Winch Growth Area

Southgates Programme Placemaking Project

STARS Scheme

St George’s Guildhall and Creative Hub

Active and Clean Connectivity Project

Riverfront Regeneration

Rail to River – Public Realm Project

Multi-User Community Hub

Boost

3G Sports Pitch

NORA EZ Infrastructure Project

The Assistant Director, Property and Projects provided an overview of the requirement for an urgent cabinet report following consultation with the Leader of the Council.

In response to a question from the Chair, the Assistant Director, Property and Projects explained that there had been less contaminated material on site than anticipated, however the final costs were not yet known

Councillor Morley commented on the Capital Programme and stated that if the MMPB was to be efficient it needed to receive up to date information.  In response, the Assistant Director, Property and Projects recognised that this presents an issue and Senior Management Team have asked officers to re-profile the capital programme and outlined the work being carried out in the Finance Team to provide a financial summary with the most up to date information.

Following comments from the Chair, the Executive Director, Place reiterated that the work currently being undertaken by the Finance Team would inform the Capital Programme and linked to the major projects reporting process.

The Chair thanked officers for the significant amount of work being carried out in relation to this project.

Florence Fields (Parkway)

The Chair informed the Board that he had recently attended a meeting on site with the Contractor and explained that although the wet weather was having an impact on the works, there was scope to catch up.

Southend Road, Hunstanton

Councillor Parish stated that this project had presented a significant challenge and explained that a discussion had taken place at the previous meeting on the flats being available for those people with a local connection.  In response, the Executive Director explained that the local condition had been added.

Multi User Community Hub

The Chair explained that Baxters Plain had been referenced as a Tier 3 project and presented to a recent Town Deal Board indicating that there had been positive public engagement and a useful design had been proposed.  The Chair flagged to officers that there was no financial provision for Baxters Plain.

General Points

Councillor Moriarty commented that changes had occurred since the 30 September 2023 to the West Winch project and other projects and that at the next meeting scheduled for March the information to be presented would still be two months behind.  In response, the Manager – PMO explained that the March meeting information would be receive for the period October to January.  The May meeting would receive information for February and March.  From May onwards MMPB would be scheduled on a quarterly basis and the information presented would be more aligned.

The Executive Director – Place explained that it currently took a considerable amount of time to collate the information manually but it was hoped that in the future an automatic system could allow the data to be collected centrally and produced on a more timely basis.

The Chair responded to questions from Councillor Morley on the financial implication of the Southend Road projected.

The Assistant Director, Property and Place and Financial Services Manager outlined the resources and process for recruitment to the programme management office.  Completing this recruitment process was critical for the Council to make the process and reporting improvements identified.

RESOLVED:  The Project Highlights Report was noted.