Agenda item

Presentation by Jonathan Noad, Director of Planning and Property.

Town Fund Prospectus attached.

The Council’s Director of Planning and Property, Jonathan Noad, gave a presentation on the context and background to the Government’s Towns Fund and creation of the Town Deal Advisory Board.

The Leyland Town Deal is one of a hundred towns selected through the Town Fund prospectus, which had been circulated with the agenda.  The Fund has allocated up to £25M per town, with £162,019 already provided to develop a town plan to draw up proposals to access the allocated funding. 

The boundary of the area for the Town Deal deviates slightly from the Office for National Statistics footprint so that it includes more than just the town centre.  Other town assets and opportunities such as Worden Park and Midge Hall Railway Station are also included within the revised town boundary. 

The scope of the Town Deal is to drive economic regeneration to deliver long-term productivity and growth through:

·         Urban regeneration, planning and land use

·         Skills and enterprise infrastructure

·         Connectivity

Key themes for the Town Deal included being led by the newly formed Town Boards, sustainable growth, skills, digital, leisure, culture, heritage, industrial and quick wins and readiness.

The Council had submitted a Town Readiness Questionnaire to government on 19 December 2019 with support from Steer consultants.

The Director of Planning and Property took the meeting through potential projects which had been identified for the Town Board to consider as part of a Town Plan.  Potential projects included:

·         Leyland Town Centre Masterplan

·         Leyland Train station link to Town Centre

·         Skills Shop

·         Worden Hall on Worden Park

·         New Health and Wellbeing Centre

·         Extra Care Facility

·         Green Links (green connectivity)

·         Midge Hall Railway Station

A discussion took place on the projects and ambitions as part of the Town Deal and whether sufficient resources were available.  Learning from other councils that had gone down a similar route was raised, with Greater Grimsby mentioned as a reference town.  There would also be learning across the 100 towns identified as part of the Town Deal.

It was felt important to be able to articulate our 'ask' to the Government and difference it will make in one sentence.  Concentrating on one big project and theme was suggested as a good way to lever in the money that would have wider benefits to the other projects already identified. 

Examples of Altrincham Market, Shoreditch Micro businesses and Holmes Mill in Clitheroe were suggested for further consideration.

A project around re-purposing some of the buildings and space with a holistic and central feature welcoming people to Leyland Town Centre from Leyland Railway Station was suggested.  Connectivity with public transport, public open space, digital engagement and providing a vibrant hub was felt to be a way forward.

It was agreed that the comments made at the meeting would be useful in developing the Town Plan.  The next stage would be a workshop to develop the proposals further.

The Director of Planning and Property encouraged those at the meeting to continue to be a member of the Town Board as a way of shaping the development of projects within the Leyland Town Deal, raise the needs of their business/sector, guide the delivery of major investment into the town and help to secure the future of Leyland.