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Item 3 SEMLEP NORTHAMPTON WATERSIDE ENTERPRISE ZONE BOARD MEETING 7th July 2020 Minutes PRESENT: Board Cllr. Jonathan Nunn * (Chair) Leader, Northampton Borough Council Cllr. Tim Hadland* Northampton Borough Council Andrew Lewer MP, Northampton South Terry Neville* University of Northampton Roy Boulton Northamptonshire County Council Peter Baguley Northampton Borough Council Kevin Langley Northampton Borough Council Craig Forsyth Northampton Borough Council Stuart McGregor Northampton Borough Council Deven Attwell Northampton Borough Council Peter Horrocks* SEMLEP (Chair) Hilary Chipping SEMLEP Kerry Mashford* SEMLEP Art Conaghan (Andrew Lewers office) Linda Aphale Northampton Borough Council (Minutes) APOLOGIES Cllr. Jason Smithers * Northamptonshire County Council Judith Barker SEMLEP George Candler Northampton Borough Council Jamie Chalmers Northampton Borough Council Sharon Gregory Northampton Borough Council * = Board member. DISCUSSION 1. Welcome and Introductions JN welcomed all to the meeting. HC asked for clarification on Brian Binley’s membership for the benefit of PB, JN confirmed that while BB is not a SEMLEP representative he is invited to attend due to his long-standing involvement with the Board, KL confirmed that he is a non-voting member. Item 3 2. Declarations of Interest No declarations of interests declared 3. Notes of Meeting held 10th March and Matters Arising KM, under matters arising, under item 10 there is a note that we are awaiting Government feedback on the draft of the Northampton Bid and Future High Street Fund, undated requested. JN, at the time of the last meeting the intention was to bid for the full £25million, after continued dialogue with MHCLG this changed, the viability of the M&S site was becoming increasingly difficult, the benefit cost ratio reduced significantly, net result was that NBC bid for £12.2million for Market Square renovations and Waterloo House, BCR 2.9. KL confirmed bid submitted late June, expect to hear back in September. Minutes accepted 4. Terms of Reference (DA) Following on from an action point in the last meeting DA confirmed he has added a paragraph in section 4 to explain how the new West Northants Unitary will be represented, he has also added that we will review membership regularly going forward. DA confirmed this was the only amendment. The amendment was accepted. 5. Governance Report/Update – SEMLEP (HC) HC referred members to the paper circulated on the Project Appraisal Approval Process. This paper clarifies the process for projects coming forward with the potential to use Business Rate Uplift generated by the Enterprise Zone. Like all LEPs SEMLEP is covered by its assurance framework, and this is very clear about how decision are made in a transparent way. Capital Projects have an appraisal process, the preliminary approval has to be completed before projects can go before the SEMLEP board for final approval. PH took a paper to the recent SEMLEP board to ensure all members understood the role of LEP and the process as there has been a change of membership over years. PH mentioned that the end of paper refers to a business case for Four Waterside, would like an update on progress as this is not on the agenda today. KL still working with Hatch on the business case which although well- developed is not ready for today. Paper was agreed. Item 3 6. Cushman Wakefield Enterprise Delivery Plan Review (KL) KL updated on the Delivery Plan Review on behalf of JC. Earlier in the year, NBC undertook a procurement process for a retained commercial advisor, Cushman Wakefield were successful. Having discussed the aims around the Enterprise Zone they suggested an audit of the financial model to develop into a strategy. With the work around the Towns Fund and The Town Investment Fund, we need to identify a list of projects, this document then could feed into the town investment plan and the document that sets out the vision of the Enterprise Zone. They were commissioned in April and are due to complete their work in September, their review/report will be brought back to the next Board meeting. Action Point 7: KL to present on the Delivery Plan Review at the next Board meeting. JN invited queries. KM enquired about the basis and subjects of the review. KL clarified that they would focus on a financial audit and project deliverability. Action Point 8: KL will review the scope of the review with Cushman Wakefield and circulate to Board Members. KL, the key role of this document is around the Town Investment Plan. Hatch Regeneris are NBC’s lead consultant working on the Town Regeneration Plan, supported by Grant Thornton, this needs to be submitted to Government by the end of October. One of the key metrics is tying together the different funding streams, there is a desire to use the Town Investment Plan to pool together all public and private sector funding to add to the single delivery document. KM enquired, as SEMLEP work with Hatch Regeneris in assessing projects how can it be ensured that no conflict of interest is created. KL advised the organisation are being used for the economic narrative of the wider town development and prioritising the list of projects, the Town Investment Plan – which KL offered to share after the meeting. Hatch are only commissioned for the initial economic baseline, afterwards will have to look at who takes the business case forward. KL confirmed that he has already checked with JB and she did not highlight a conflict. HC highlighted the alignment between the Future High Streets Fund, the Towns Deal and the work that SEMLEP have been doing with the Enterprise Zone for many years it would be good for the Board to understand how the work being done ties together. KL agreed, there is a timing issue in terms of board dates and short deadlines, a programme has not yet been developed, the next chance to share would probably be Sept. Action Point 9: KL to circulate papers as approved by Northampton Forward Board. No further comments. Item 3 7. Enterprise Zone Key Performance Indicators (DA) DA referred to the paper circulated, which was in response to an action point at the last meeting. It was discussed at the last Board that NBC would work with SEMLEP to create a dashboard, due to shifting priorities around Covid this is still outstanding. MG enquired how does this tied in with the impact of Covid situation, would like to understand the impact on the town and wider area. DA advised there will be graphs/graphics to compare periods included in the Dashboard. KL, NBC have recently developed their Economic Growth Strategy, this will be refreshed and look at a local recovery strategy. KM, asked for clarification on bullet points 3 and 4 of the document. Action Point 10: DA will get back to KM on bullet points 3 and 4 by email and copy in Board members. 8. Project Updates (KL) KL shared and ran through the report (already circulated), refer to report for details. • Vulcan Works Highlighted the changes particularly to Angel Street. There have been delays with materials, the supply chain, and getting contractors on site. The extent of implications not yet fully known, the financial implications are evolving. KL hopes to include photographs in a presentation to the board in the future. KM enquired about ERDF and internal fit out. KL stressed high levels of engagement, have agreed that there will be changes to the programme and reporting timescales, these are ongoing conversations. In terms of the café, if there are contingency funds left over we would like to look at this, confident that there will not be any contingency available so further investigation needed and will need to bring back to the Board and NBC Cabinet. KM feels that the collaboratively work is quite important and would be pleased to retain the café element as far as possible. MG commented that he had walked up Angel St. earlier and feels the work is really making an impact. PH, on the third risk (market interest/pricing) enquired if there was any information yet on prospects/dropouts, how well occupancy looks? KL referred to initial soft market testing undertaken at the onset of the project, post covid implications are not yet known. DA will be soft market testing again in the coming weeks to ensure the level of interest is still there and there is operator demand. PH mentioned the strong vision of creative Item 3 industries and the clustering effect being the primary purpose, depending how the sector is affected it might be that this become more generic. KL agreed that the definition of ‘creative’ may need to revisit when reviewing occupancy and will bring this back to the Board if required. JN – museum not on agenda but hope to have open by end of year, snagging now. • Horizon Park KL confirmed that utility companies have to respond. Surveys are in the process of being commissioned prior to full planning application. No questions • Four Waterside Since last meeting NBC have received the stage 2 delivery advise from Avison Young, this indicated, as expected, a competitive dialogue process was needed to meet the objectives for this key site in order to select a development partner. The report also advised the site should be approached as one site rather than split into individual phases, soft market testing indicated there wasn’t much appetite for the smaller elements, more interest in developing the site as a whole. The outline business case has been drafted, this has been submitted to SEMLEP for appraisal. There are some outstanding technical questions, but the aim is to bring the business case back to the board in September. The risks and mitigations are shown on the report.