To undertake pre-scrutiny of the Town Centre Strategy and discuss the presentation by consultants Arup which was given on 20 August 2009.
(Report to follow)
Minutes:
Officers informed the Committee that this item provided Members with an opportunity to undertake pre-scrutiny of the Town Centre Strategy before it was considered at the Executive Committee.
The Chair invited Councillor MacMillan, the relevant Portfolio Holder, to begin this item by answering the question of whether he thought the proposals were realistic, deliverable, and achievable. Councillor MacMillan informed the Committee that he believed the team of consultants commissioned to undertake this initial piece of work had highlighted all of the main issues facing the town centre and had also provided a wide range of realistic and deliverable suggestions as to how to tackle some of these problems. He believed that if all Members agreed that developing a strategy for the town centre was a priority for the Council then it would be feasible to fund the actions proposed in the strategy. He stressed that implementation of the proposals would happen over a long period of time. It would therefore take years to fully achieve the potential of the town centre.
Councillor Thomas explained that the future development of the town centre was something that she was passionate about. However, she felt that she had heard similar proposals for the town centre many times in the past and very little had been achieved. She questioned how achievable the proposals were. One of her main concerns was that the Council might raise residents’ expectations but might not in the long-term be able to deliver.
Councillor MacMillan explained that he was willing to support the proposals for the duration of his time on the Council but that more advocates were needed to champion the scheme. He suggested that Councillors should sign up to a long term plan to show their support for the proposals. Members briefly touched on the issue of levering in external funds to help deliver the strategy and the possibility of approaching Advantage West Midlands to help fund some of the proposals. Councillor MacMillan said that he felt that at this stage, the Council should not discount this option. He believed that if the Council could produce a sound business plan for the proposals with a clear strategic vision and key deliverables then there was a chance that Advantage West Midlands would be willing to support the strategy.
He went on to acknowledge that the Kingfisher Shopping Centre had a role to play in the rejuvenation of the town centre. He had met with representatives from Scottish Widows where the future of the town centre was discussed. Scottish Widows were keen to ensure that something was done to develop the town centre as it would help to attract retailers into the Shopping Centre. There was a pressing need for units to be let and Scottish Widows had attempted to find creative ways of attracting good quality retailers to the Centre. Members commented that they wanted to ensure that any development that did take place would benefit the entire town centre and not just the Kingfisher Centre.
Members concurred that they were passionate about the town centre and its future. It was noted that the Council could not afford not to undertake redevelopment of the town centre as so much of the economic future of the town relied heavily on the town centre being a vibrant and prosperous place. It was noted that the current provision of retail and leisure services in the town centre was not enough to offer choice to both residents in the town and to attract visitors from outside the area.
Officers commented that in the past, proposals for the rejuvenation of the town centre had been un-co-ordinated. This time a much more strategic approach had been taken, with the production of an overall strategy for all of the key areas within the town centre. It was also important to ensure, through planning development policy that the most appropriate uses of land were provided for in the town centre.
Members particularly liked the plans for the ‘gateway’ area to the town, where the train and bus stations were situated. In the past, local Ward Members had experienced difficulty in getting work done on these areas. Members stressed that there were many parties that could potentially be involved in any re-development of this area and that it would be important that the Council worked in partnership to realise the proposals for this part of the town centre. It was suggested by Members that the best approach would be to carefully stage the implementation, ensuring that small scale actions with tangible outcomes were undertaken first followed by the more large scale and complex elements of the scheme in the latter stages.
Members asked Officers to clarify the current position with regards to permitting banks and building societies inside of the Kingfisher Shopping Centre. Officers confirmed that banks and building societies were permitted within the Centre; however policy did restrict successive blank frontages occupying large parts of the centre. Members commented that there was a need for smaller, independent shops to populate the Church Green area. Councillor MacMillan generally agreed with the Committee but pointed out that there was a need to encourage, in particular, a range of high quality and diverse retail uses.
Councillor MacMillan informed the Committee that the strategy was still under consultation and a further consultation event with relevant interested parties was due to take place the following week. Comments provided by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and at the stakeholder event would be reported back to the Executive Committee.
RESOLVED that
the report be noted.