Issue - meetings

The opportunity to shape a better Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole in the coming years is a hugely significant one. The BCP area faces a demand for over 2,000 new homes to be built each year over the next 16 years.  To deliver these homes, as well as new offices and infrastructure, and realise the vision of a world class city region, as set out in its Big Plan, the Council will need to act at scale, deliver at pace and ensure development and placemaking of the highest quality.

This report proposes that the Council should adopt a commissioning model for regeneration working with key partners including its Urban Regeneration Company (URC), BCP FuturePlaces Limited, the Bournemouth Development Company (BDC) and the Boscombe Towns Fund Board to deliver high quality regeneration and development for residents.

This report explains the Council’s approach, detailing how it will commission services from FuturePlaces; the initial plans for regenerating key sites, and the anticipated outcomes from the approach.

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  ...  view the full decision text for item 74

The Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, Economy and Strategic Planning presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'E' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

Cabinet was informed that the opportunity to shape a better Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole in the coming years is a hugely significant one, and that the BCP area faces a demand for over 2,000 new homes to be built each year over the next 16 years.

In relation to this Cabinet was advised that to deliver these homes, as well as new offices and infrastructure, and realise the vision of a world class city region, as set out in its Big Plan, the Council will need to act at scale, deliver at pace and ensure development and placemaking of the highest quality.

Cabinet was informed that the report proposes that the Council should adopt a commissioning model for regeneration working with key partners including its Urban Regeneration Company (URC), BCP FuturePlaces Limited, the Bournemouth Development Company (BDC) and the Boscombe Towns Fund Board to deliver high quality regeneration and development for residents, and that further to this the report explains the Council’s approach, detailing how it will commission services from FuturePlaces; the initial plans for regenerating key sites, and the anticipated outcomes from the approach.

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Board addressed the Cabinet advising that at the recent meeting of the Board Members had expressed their wish for there to be cross part representation on the associated Board, in addition Cabinet was advised that the Overview and Scrutiny members had requested that consideration be given to earlier assessment of planning consent or outline planning permission being sought at an early stage before a significant amount of money has been spent.

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  ...  view the full minutes text for item 74

To consider the following Regeneration related report scheduled for Cabinet consideration on 27 October 2021:

·       BCP Commissioning Plan for Regeneration and Development and Urban Regeneration Company Business Plan

The O&S Board is asked to scrutinise and comment on the report and if required make recommendations or observations as appropriate.

Cabinet member invited to attend for this item: Councillor Phil Broadhead, Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, Economy and Strategic Planning.

The Cabinet report for this item is included with the agenda for consideration by the Overview and Scrutiny Board.

The Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, Economy and Strategic Planning presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'C' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The Portfolio Holder, with support from Officers, responded to Board Members’ comments and requests for clarification, details included:

• There was still an ambition to redevelop the former Winterbourne hotel, however it had now become part of a larger plan for the area.
• There were a number of sites identified for delivery and the Council was actively looking for these sites to be taken forward sooner rather than later. Other sites required further consideration and it was important for the Council and the URC to establish the best method of delivery for each site.
• The URC needed to take a holistic view on sites, including those not necessarily in their remit, including Winter Gardens and Cotlands Road, which were owned by BDC, although there was an opportunity for both the URC and BDC to work together to ensure projects are connected.
• The extra investment in regeneration was not new and the funding request had already been approved by Cabinet in September and the report before Board Members included the details as part of the business plan and would allow the URC to be fully established.
• It was acknowledged that the establishment of the URC may be a cost burden initially, but it would be highly beneficial and it was already growing quickly, which would be rewarding in terms of what it could deliver and was considered to be a very innovative project.
• Other similar organisations were having successes with this type of arrangement and the business model evolved over time and stops being a cost burden.
• The URC was commissioned by the Council to feed back options relating to regeneration/development and its establishment would lead to a level of councillor engagement not experienced in the past.
• Culture would be placed at the heart of what projects undertaken by the URC and its main governance board would be populated with experienced non-exec directors, plus there would be an advisory board which would provide evidence to main board.
• It was felt that the URC was the best vehicle for the Council to promote regeneration across the conurbation and would fit with the council’s objectives. A a cross-cutting approach was required which was why the council had appointed a director of delivery to look across all departments and act as one point of contact.
• The URC would have its own marketing team to promote sites and national partner as part of a larger branding exercise.
• There was a need to ensure that ambition and drive was active, but robust processes needed to be in place to ensure correct governance and by having this commissioning plan in place, the URC would be able undertake its work and the Board will have oversight. There would be three members on the Executive Board from the local authority and it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 105