Agenda and draft minutes

          The Chairman announced that this meeting was the Senior Regeneration Officer’s last due to her retirement later on in the month. He thanked her for her hard work and dedication over her many years of service with the Council.

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

          There were no declarations of interest made.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 21 October 2020 (as attached).

          The minutes of the meeting held on 21 October 2020 were approved and it was agreed that the Chairman would sign these as soon as practicably possible.

The Sub-Committee will receive a presentation from Jason Passingham (Chairman)and Heather Allen (BID Co-ordinator.  A background paper is attached for the Sub-Committee’s information.

This will be followed by a questions and answer session from Members.

The Chairman of Bognor Regis BID extended his thanks the Senior Regeneration Officer for her hard work over the years and wished her well on her retirement.

He then provided members with an update on the work that had been undertaken by the team since the last meeting of the Sub-Committee. The key highlights were;

·       Reduction in Crime rates

·       The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the BID was confirmed and invitations had been sent on 11 March 2021

·       Partnership working over the Christmas period with the ‘light up’ light installations across the Bognor Town Centre had been well received

·       General Market confirmed as returning shortly, restrictions dependant

·       Work with Bognor place branding team, with clear objectives to make Bognor a welcoming Town

·       New oversized planters had injected colour into the town centre and had been received well by business owners and the public

·       A bright colourful artwork installation in Norfolk Road had been completed by a local artist which incorporates subliminal messaging to direct people up through the Highstreet

·       A living wall had been established near the Bedford Toilets, it was confirmed that this was doing well and would look beautiful in full bloom.

·       Wooden Planters had been placed in the far east end of the Highstreet

He also confirmed that the team were working to a re-opening date of 8 April 2021, however this date was subject to review dependant on restrictions and national Government guidelines.

          Members then took part in a question and answer session and the Chairman of the Bognor Regis BID and the Bognor Regis BID Co-Ordinator provided answers to all questions raised.

The Chairman thanked the Chairman of the Bognor Regis BID and his team for their hard work and the support they provide to the town.

The Sub-Committee will receive a presentation from Mr Raof Daud, Chairman and Rebecca White, Advisor to the Board, which will outline the work of the Board followed by a question and answer session.

The Chairman of Bognor Regeneration Board thanked the Senior Regeneration Officer for her hard work over the years and wished her well on her retirement. He then invited the Advisor to the Bognor Regeneration Board to deliver the presentation from the board to Members.

          After the presentation members then took part in a question and answer session where the Advisor to, the Chairman of the Bognor Regeneration Board and the Bognor Regis BID Co-Ordinator provided answers to all questions asked.

          The Sub-Committee noted the presentation that had been received and the Chairman thanked the Advisor and the Chairman of the Bognor Regis Regeneration for their work and attendance at the meeting.

This report updates Members on the place branding initiative and requests that the Council adopts the place branding outputs detailed in the report.

(Councillor Goodheart joined the meeting at the start of this item)

          The Senior Regeneration Officer provided members with an overview of her report and then invited the Bognor Regis BID Co-Ordinator to provide a more detailed summary of the work that had been completed, she highlighted that;

·       It could not be a more appropriate time to grab hold of this and embrace it fully to help Bognor Regis recover from the Pandemic

·       Changing the narrative on perception of Bognor Regis was within the control of all stakeholders and members

·       The new shared narrative detailed in the Core Values of the place brand provided a common framework and consistent message for all stakeholders to reference when delivering initiatives for Bognor Regis

The Chairman then invited the Advisor to the Bognor Regis Regeneration Board to make any further comment.

  Members then took part in a question and answer session and answers to all questions raised were provided by the Senior Regeneration Officer. It was clear from the comments made and questions asked that members were not all in agreement with the detail of the core values as some found them to be too simplistic. Members were reminded during the discussion that all of the detail before them had been driven from consultation with the community of Bognor Regis and not an external company. A further concern was raised that it was felt that all stakeholders involved may not have an equal say in the final actions delivered and it was unclear as to how some of the stakeholders involved had been agreed upon.

Discussion then turned to specific events and celebration of Bognor Regis heritage being something that members wanted more involvement in. the following events were mentioned as they had been particularly successful in the past;

·       The Clown Convention

·       The South Downs Folk Festival

·       The Rox

·       The Birdman

·       Bognor Pride

The comments in reference to Butlins were felt to be unfair and it was stated by one member that, they had worked really hard for Bognor Regis and that they should be promoted in a good light. As discussion drew to an end it was highlighted that the survey that had been used to collate all of the feedback for this report may not be accurate as the survey was still showing as ‘live’ and this caused concern for one member.

          On turning to the vote, it was requested and agreed that the recommendation be split, on conclusion of the vote the second part of the recommendation to adopt the place branding core values and brand filter for all Council activity in Bognor Regis was voted against and therefore;

          The Sub-Committee

                     RECOMMEND TO FULL COUNCIL that;

1)    the findings of the place branding perception study be noted as a reflection on community perceptions following the public consultation exercise.

2)    the place branding Core Values and “Brand Filter” approach are not adopted for all Council activity in Bognor Regis

To receive and note the Position Statement which is attached.

The Senior Regeneration Officer advised members that they had received the updated position statement in the agenda and that if there were any questions that members had she would answer where she could, but in the absence of the Group Head of Economy and the Director of Place some answer may require a written answer where she or the Chief Executive could not provide the detail needed.

          The following points were raised;

·       When would the planning application for the A29 be being brought before the Development Control Committee, the current date has been advised as ‘Spring 2021’? It was confirmed that not specific date could be provided, only that the Planning Team are currently processing the application and that the Senior Regeneration Officer had seen is as part of the consultation process.

·       Questions regarding Place St Maur and Sunken Gardens were asked, and answers were provided by the Chairman, the Chief Executive and the Leader of the Independent Group.

·       Would the public toilets on Bognor Regis seafront be open for the Summer as confirmed by the notice that had been placed on them? It was confirmed they would be open for the Summer season.

·       Had the Council matched the £50k funding that had been received for the Bandstand and how was this decision made? It was confirmed that the Council had matched the £50k grant that had been received, but that an answer to how and who made that decision would need to be provided outside of the meeting.

·       It was asked was the application for Butlins to move their check in desk, likely to be presented to the Development Control Committee. It was confirmed that the application was in process at the current time.

It was confirmed by a member that the organiser of the Birdman event had been in touch as they had been watching the meeting via the website and they wanted to confirm that it was the intention to run the Birdman event and Bognor Pride, but that this was dependant on sponsorship.

          The Chairman thanked all attendees for their participation in the meeting and then drew the meeting to a close.