Agenda item

(a)       That the Committee agree in principle to undertake a scrutiny review of Town Centres and High Streets, as identified in the report; and

(b)       That the Project plan be further developed for consideration at the next meeting.

The Member Engagement Manager introduced the report to consider how the Committee can undertake a review of Town Centre and High Street regeneration. 

Following a request from the Committee in July 2013 to give further consideration to exploring new ways to enhance town centres and high streets, a meeting had taken place where it had been agreed that a considerable amount of good work was already taking place across Flintshire.  The report identified the work that had been undertaken since May 2013 and the updates that the Committee had received as part of the Quarterly Performance Report for Regeneration.  The group that met on 12 December 2013 felt that a joined up approach was needed across the Council including planning, housing, social enterprise and working with the many stakeholders which were listed in the outline project plan which was attached as an appendix to the report. 

Councillor Alex Aldridge expressed his support for the proposals and said that it was important that all areas were given the same opportunity to put suggestions forward.  He asked if information including anecdotal evidence would be provided for all areas so that the Committee could have an overall view of the town centres and high streets across the County. 

The Cabinet Member for Economic Development indicated that he had attended the meeting in December 2013 and said that the Chairman and Vice-Chairman had suggested that the Committee needed to be made aware of what was taking place in town centres and then prepare a mini strategy to take forward as good practice for all areas.  Councillor Aldridge believed that a ‘bottom up’ approach was required.  The Head of Regeneration said that it was important to work with local communities and that each town would have different priorities and would require a different solution.  The project plan approach adopted by the County Council was about developing a strategy that was appropriate for the local communities. 

Councillor Chris Dolphin agreed with more involvement of Overview & Scrutiny in Town Centres but said that ideas that he had tried to put forward for Holywell Town Centre regeneration had not been welcomed.  The Chairman felt that there was a need to look at the County as a whole and not at individual wards. 

Councillor Nancy Matthews referred to two issues that affected small businesses which were rent and business rates.  Councillor Peter Curtis said that the Clerk of the Town and Community Council could be contacted if there were certain projects that other Town and Community Councils wanted to submit an opinion about.  He also referred to the Holywell Partnership Board.  The Head of Regeneration said that the partnerships referred to were not formally constituted bodies, they were open meetings and decisions on attendance were a matter for the bodies themselves.  On the issue of business rates and rents, he said that these were collected by the Council but were set by Welsh Government and he spoke of a review in Wales about rate relief for small traders.  He also commented on a small shop scheme which he detailed but he said that the County Council had been unable to reach agreement with any shop.  On the issue of wider strategic approaches, he felt that it made sense to undertake a joined up approach and suggested working alongside whatever other major initiatives were operating in the area, for example, the Deeside approach was closely linked to the Deeside Enterprise Zone Board. 

The Cabinet Member for Economic Development reinforced what the Chairman of the Committee had said at the group meeting on 12 December 2013 that this Committee needed to be apprised of what Town and Community Councils were doing to allow the collection of information to identify good practice within the ward which could be considered as a solution for other areas. 

Councillor Veronica Gay asked how this issue was linked with Flintshire Connects and commented in particular about the proposals for Saltney.  The Cabinet Member for Economic Development said that the issues were not related.  Councillor Aldridge disagreed and said that there was an intrinsic link and highlighted the Flint Connects office which would also house the Police and the Jobcentre as well as officers delivering Council services. 

Councillor Glyn Banks asked how tourism fitted into the scheme and commented on the areas of Talacre and Gronant.  The Director of Environment felt that Tourism was a separate issue and felt that this could be included in the Forward Work Programme for discussion at a future meeting. 

Councillor Curtis queried whether the Partnership Board meetings were open to the public and said that he understood that people were invited to attend but that the meetings were not public meetings.  The Head of Regeneration said that the boards were unconstituted bodies and confirmed that they were not closed meetings and that they had initially been set up as open meetings. 

The Chairman agreed with the recommendation in the report but added that he would like the issue to be included on the Forward Work Programme and brought to the next meeting for discussion in more detail. 

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Committee agree in principle to undertake a scrutiny review of Town Centres and High Streets, as identified in the report; and

(b)       That the Project plan be further developed for consideration at the next meeting.