Agenda item

To consider an update from the following Cabinet Portfolio Holder on current and proposed priorities within the remit of the Portfolio, including risks, challenges and opportunities:

·       Cllr Philip Broadhead, Deputy Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, Economy and Strategic Planning

Questions to the Deputy Leader are invited in advance from all non-Executive councillors to inform the Deputy Leader’s discussions with the Board, please submit questions by Wednesday 23 December.

Please note that the areas of the Council covered by this Portfolio are:

·       Regeneration

·       Major Projects

·       Business-sector

·       Employer liaison, jobs and employment

·       Economy

·       Liaison with LGA and other partners

·       Brexit transition

·       Strategic planning and house building

A briefing report from the Portfolio Holder is attached to this agenda for consideration by the Overview and Scrutiny Board

The Chairman introduced the item, a copy of the report had been circulated to the Board members and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'A' to these minutes in the Minute Book. The Chairman advised the Board that the purpose of the item was to help generate ideas for the future and consider those issues which the Overview and Scrutiny Board would want to get involved in or consider further. This was the first time that the Board had undertaken this particular type of scrutiny and the Board was asked to consider its effectiveness for future reports.

The Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, Economy and Strategic Planning outlined the key points from the Portfolio, the future projects which were coming forward and areas where the Overview and Scrutiny Board may become involved and add value. There were a number of questions and comments made in the ensuing discussion which included:

·       A Councillor raised comments concerning the situation in the Planning department. There was concern that the situation was not improving and it was putting off people wanting to invest in the area. The Planning team was still operating as three separate teams. The Portfolio Holder was asked what he felt should be done. The Portfolio Holder advised that the situation was not acceptable, and it was a priority of the Leader. It was noted that it needed to be seriously resourced as we did not have a planning department of an appropriate size for the area of the Council. There was a need to ensure that the system was harmonised and streamlined. A team was looking at Design and Planning Briefs for certain key areas to help give clarity to investors and developers, which should help speed up the system moving forward.

·       The Portfolio Holder was asked whether consideration had been given to the 11,000 planning applications which had not been turned into builds and whether any consideration had been given to the timeframe that Planning Applications were valid for. The Portfolio Holder commented that that might be something to look into in the future and thanked the Board member for the suggestion.

·       A Board member commented that they were supportive of this inclusive approach particularly more member seminars and the opportunity for the wider input of ward Councillors and the wider input overall. It was suggested that more scrutiny may be useful of the Council owned or part owned Companies and also of the Crime Panel in a more detailed item of scrutiny coming forward to the O&S Board. The Portfolio Holder suggested that the Board may want to look into the value for money that the Council owned companies offer but also to look forward to the future, whether further action could be taken and what further opportunities could be explored.

·     A Councillor asked about the relationship between the Portfolio Holder and the lead members responsible for regeneration in the various different areas within BCP and commented that someone had to have a grip on all regenerations. The Portfolio Holder advised that he was accountable and had full responsibility for all regeneration, but the lead members were also able to support and drive forward projects in specific areas drawing on good local knowledge. A good example of this was a report coming forward on retail strategy.

·     A Councillor asked about the Future Highstreets Bid which had failed. It was noted that there were always learning points to be taken away. For example, it was suggested that the covered market proposal for Poole Town Centre was achievable, in a defined space and that BPC Council could push itself to move forward. It was suggested that the O&S Board needed to set up a working party to look into the processes for the submission of various bids, including the use of consultants and the overall regeneration function. It was noted that the same consultants had been appointed for the power station site as had been used on the high streets bid. The Chairman confirmed that we were constrained by resources in terms of a working group, but this could be an issue which the O&S Board looked into further once the Local Plan Working Group had concluded. It was noted that the bid in questioned failed as the outlined criteria for the bid was not met. The Portfolio Holder suggested that this was something which could be looked into in future.

·     A Councillor commented on the lack of information on the Poole Town Centre north regeneration and the power station site. It was noted that there were major plans for Poole, but these had not yet been revealed to the member advisory board. The Portfolio Holder commented that there were ongoing negotiations around the Poole Power Station site. There were massive opportunities in the Poole area, and it was important to actually get on with things and see cranes in the sky. There would be further member workshops on this once some of the issues were resolved.

·     A Board member asked about planning applications within their ward and issues with much of the land in the area being owned by one particular family, which was holding up regeneration and redevelopment opportunities in several areas within the ward. The Portfolio Holder advised that he hoped that this was an area which he could address. There was a need for a good hotel policy, to encourage high quality but less provision. Some areas would need to be released for residential development. There was a need to look at how the Council could work together with large family landowners and consider, in consultation with them, what future hotel stock should look like.

·     A Councillor commented on Smart Places and wanting to be able to share output, how this was acquired, shared and made available with the public and those in industry etc. It was noted that this issue was coming to fruition now and the smart place programme was certainly on the agenda as to how the information from the project could be used and shared in an open and transparent way. The Portfolio Holder advised that he was looking at bringing a further paper forward about what that meant but that it was in the early stages and only just coming to fruition.

·     The Portfolio Holder informed the Board that it was his ambition to have a number of Member Seminars moving forward. There was an opportunity to look at areas that O&S Board would like to move forward in and opportunities coming forward for the O&S Board to drill down into a number of different areas.

The Chairman thanked the Portfolio Holder for his presentation and Board members for the questions and advised that there were a number of issues raised that the Board may wish to look into further.