Decision details

RESOLVED that Cabinet approves: -

(a)            the commissioning approach to Regeneration and the Commissioning Plan described in this report, including the reporting and monitoring arrangements below and attached at Appendix 1;

(b)           the URC Business Plan shown at Confidential Appendix 2; 

(c)            that the Council’s formal relationship with the URC will be governed through several legal documents including: the Commissioning Contract; Articles of Association; a Shareholder’s Agreement; a Support Services Agreement;

(d)           that responsibility to finalise the terms of these documents be delegated to the Corporate Property Officer, in consultation with the Monitoring Officer;

(e)            the initial sites and projects to be taken forward for development by the URC as shown in Table 1 and detailed in the Business Plan at Confidential Appendix 2; and

(f)             the budget required by the URC to manage its planned programme and deliver the development management services necessary to progress the development of the sites identified in the business plan, subject to the approval of the additional budget by Council.

RECOMMENDED that Council approves: -

(g)           The financial recommendations as set out in the 29th September Cabinet report entitled ‘Accelerating regeneration and investment in the BCP area’ namely:

                    (i)           To approve £3.404m of additional resources to support the regeneration programme in 2021/22 (including £0.380m to fund the first phase of the Seafront Strategy.

                   (ii)           To note that £3.470m has been requested to support regeneration in 2022/23 and £1.331m annually thereafter which will be subject to formal approval as part of the 2022/23 budget and Medium-Term Financial Plan Update report in February 2022.

Voting: Unanimous

Portfolio Holder: Regeneration, Economy and Strategic Planning

Reason

The opportunity for investment, regeneration, and development within Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole is significant. There is a compelling need for the Council to intervene proactively to improve the quality and quantity of development and embrace the best practice and innovation in place-making by learning from industry experts across the UK and internationally. This means hiring practitioners with a proven track record of accomplishment and ensuring plans are put in place for key sites such as Holes Bay, so they do not remain undeveloped for another 20 years. In May and September 2021, Cabinet supported the establishment of an Urban Regeneration Company, and approved the proposal to form the company.

In order to service this approach and provide an intelligent client function, the Council needs to move to a commissioning model for regeneration with Officers preparing a Commissioning Plan. This approach is being proposed for the following reasons: 104

·        The scale and complexity of regeneration sites across the BCP area and the need for additional housing is too big for the Council to pursue solely using its existing staffing resources. New expertise and insights are needed.

·        The proposed approach will allow officers to develop and agree strategy with Members and oversee delivery, in accordance with policy objectives set by the Council.

·        A ‘Commissioning’ approach to delivery will bring greater consistency to project and programme governance through an account / contract management model enabling relationships with the URC, BDC and the Boscombe Towns Fund Board to be managed in similar ways, with regular reporting to Members.

·        Commissioning will reduce delivery risks by providing a consistent framework within which projects may be scrutinised and risk assessed as they progress from conception through to planning and implementation.

·        The new commissioning model will allow the Council to benefit from subject matter experts in development management with the necessary professional, commercial, and technical expertise to deliver large scale regeneration programmes, while also helping to build capacity and expert knowledge within the Council.

·        The commissioning model will help the Council to accelerate investment across the BCP area by developing ‘investor ready’ sites and projects and forming new investment partnerships.

The new approach will enable development to proceed at a scale appropriate to an urban context while respecting and recognising the value of our distinctive local communities and smaller settlements.