Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence had been received from Councillor Reynolds.

Members and Officers are reminded to make any declarations of pecuniary, personal and/or prejudicial interests that they may have in relation to items on this agenda and are reminded that they should re-declare their interest before consideration of the item or as soon as the interest becomes apparent.

Members and officers should make their declaration by stating :

a) the item they have the interest in

b) whether it is a pecuniary, personal and/or prejudicial

c) the nature of the interest

No declarations of interest were made.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 24 September 2018 (attached).

The Minutes of the meeting held on 24 September 2018 were approved by the Subcommittee as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

LUC, the appointed design consultants for the new Pavilion Park in Bognor Regis, will give a presentation providing examples of their work and outlining the process of stakeholder engagement as part of the next phases of the implementation of the new park.

            The Chairman was pleased to welcome to the meeting Mr Alex Massey and Mr Ed Manning of LUC (Land Use Consultants), the appointed design consultants for the new Pavilion Park in Bognor Regis, who were in attendance to give a presentation providing examples of their work and outlining the process of stakeholder engagement as part of the next phases of the implementation of the new park.

            The Chairman advised the meeting that, although this project was part of the regeneration proposals for Bognor Regis, because it was a park and was being delivered by Greenspace, the Director of Services and the Group Head of Neighbourhood Services were in attendance to answer any questions Members might have.

            On commencing their presentation, the consultants advised that the concept for Pavilion Park was a really exciting project which they felt privileged to be involved with.  They provided illustrations of the projects the company had been engaged with from the design stage to completion and informed Members of the 50 year history of the company and the wide ranging experience of its staff.

            A broad programme of work and indicative project timeline was outlined to include options testing; progressing designs; and stakeholder involvement, which it was anticipated would lead to a planning application being submitted and approved by the end of the year. 

            The Chairman thanked Mr Massey and Mr Manning for their presentation and stated that he had been impressed with their portfolio, emphasising that the park must become an asset for Bognor Regis.

            In the course of discussion by Members, the following points were highlighted:-

·         There must be adequate parking provision and electric charging points included in the scheme.

·         Designing crime out was seen as a fundamental requirement.

·         A question was asked with regard to public input in the process and a response was given that ways of communicating with all parties was being investigated to ensure that everyone’s views were listened to.

            The Subcommittee would be kept fully informed of progress.

            Following thanks from the Chairman for their attendance, Mr Massey and Mr Manning then left the meeting.

This report brings Members up to date with the services provided to local businesses and the progress being made with those services.

            The Business Development Manager presented this report to bring Members up to date with the services provided to local businesses by the Council.  She stated the report was self-explanatory but took the opportunity to highlight the following:-

·         The success of the networking meetings.

·         Business of the Year Awards had been well attended.

·         Monthly e-newsletter circulated to around 3,500 businesses at the beginning of each month.

·         Journey to Work – due to changes it was not so easy now to get people into jobs.  However, had 100 clients and targets were being outperformed.

·         Grants were always well received and there was a good ratio of grant funding to match funding.

·         Since its establishment, Business Networking Bognor Regis had generated over £1.1m worth of business amongst its 26 members and two new groups had now been set up following on from that success - The Littlehampton Business Circle and a group in Chichester, as detailed in the report.

            Members welcomed the report and asked questions relating to work with schools; empty properties; improving shop fronts; and a requirement for a data base of business premises to assist expanding and new businesses in the District, all of which were responded to at the meeting by the Business Development Manager and the Group Head of Economy.

            The Subcommittee noted the report.

To receive and note the Position Statement.

In receiving and noting the Position Statement, particular comment was made with regard to the following:-

Seafront Regeneration – unfortunately the new toilets installed on the Seafront in October 2018 had been closed due to build quality issues and actions were being taken to rectify that.  Temporary toilets would be put in place if required prior to the start of the season.  No payment had been made for the building and a legal process had been commenced.

Members were pleased to note that £50,000 had been received for improvements to the bandstand and the Senior Regeneration Officer advised on what was being proposed, i.e. the replacement of the low level railings.  A second phase would complete the improvements, including the possibility of having removable seating to complement the new café just to the east.

Butlin’s – new Splash Pool on target to open Easter 2019.

Old Town and Pier – a question was asked regarding the Old Town Working Group being reconstituted and an officer response given that it had not met for approximately 3-4 years and that the Council’s role had been to facilitate in partnership with the Town Centre Manager and Town Council – BID staff would need to be actively involved as the Town Centre Manager had previously co-ordinated  this initiative.

 (The meeting concluded at 7.15 p.m.)