Agenda item

Please see document attached for consideration and comments.

Andrew Clarke referred to the Draft Town Investment Plan circulated with the agenda. Cllr Evans indicated that the document was to be discussed at Council on 30 September 2020 and the Chair said that she had been asked to present the item at that meeting.

Andrew referred to the public engagement / consultation exercise which was due to end on 28 September and outlined the next steps in the process, including development appraisal, completion of TIP Parts 1 and 2, final review by the Board and submission.

Christina Shepherd from BEIS (Dept. of Business, Enterprise and Industrial Strategy) praised the draft TIP. She stressed the importance of showing evidence of need, clearly outlined areas of intervention and an overview of economic development indicators. Jonathan Noad indicated that there were lots of examples of demonstrable current activity and potential in Leyland, such as development of residential homes, employers e.g. Leyland DAF and BAE systems and that the Town Deal was an opportunity to build on these strengths.

Cllr Evans raised the issue of the branding of the Business Advice Skills and Enterprise “BASE 2” building as there was already a building of that name in Broadfield. It was agreed that the branding could be reviewed.

The Chair enquired as to the consultation responses received online via the website and feedback forms from the town markets. Andrew Clarke and Fred Beltrandi indicated that the data needed to be pulled together and analysed however it was agreed that the raw data could be circulated to the Board in excel format.

Nik Puttnam referred to the TIP economic development indicators and offered to provide his expertise from a developer / contractor perspective. It was agreed that Andrew Clarke and Nikk Puttnam would discuss further following the meeting. Nikk also asked about youth engagement. Jennifer Clough said she would liaise with members of the Board representing local colleges regarding promoting / obtaining student feedback on the consultation.

Katherine Fletcher MP enquired as to whether the consultation could include a question about the scheme overall as well as the individual elements of the project. Christina Shepherd agreed that the TIP is assessed in its entirety and one of the three key assessment areas is engagement, evidenced from the local community i.e. businesses, residents. Katherine Fletcher MP suggested that the Board use its contacts to promote responses to this additional question and the consultation to local stakeholders. She said she was happy to approach parliamentary office contacts e.g. Nigel Evans MP.

Andrew Clarke confirmed that the additional question could be added to the online consultation, additional images included and the deadline extended for another 2-3 weeks. A form of words, images and a link would be circulated to the Board. Councillor Bell also suggested a that direct mail consultation be sent to local residents directly affected by the proposals. A competition via local schools was also suggested.

Christina Shepherd also stressed the need to include evidence of other funded programmes, e.g. match funding and linkages such as to the Dept. of Transport. Nikk Puttnam suggested that proposals for the upper floor of the BASE and costings is something he could assist with as a developer. Jonathan Noad indicated that the Council is already starting to explore financing the projects, e.g. council capital funding, S106 monies, potential match funding. Katherine Fletcher MP referred to the fact that Leyland made the shortlist for the Restoring Railways BID, evidencing cycle links and connecting communities, which would be useful to include in the TIP. Neil Anderson said that we could start to identify other projects that may bring external funding and investments that link in to the scheme over the next week.

Decision – That the following actions be agreed:

1.    Andrew Clarke and Nik Puttnam meet to discuss developer expertise with regard to economic development indicators, proposals, costings, etc. in the TIP;

2.    To consider rebranding / renaming the BASE project;

3.    That the raw data of consultation responses be circulated to the Board in excel format;

4.    Jennifer Clough to liaise with members of the Board representing local colleges regarding promoting / obtaining student feedback on the consultation;

5.      That the public consultation be extended for 2 -3 weeks, to include a question to capture people’s views on the transformation of Leyland as a whole rather than commenting on the individual schemes, creating a story mainly in visual terms of what Leyland is like now and how it will look after Town deal

6.    That the story, images and link to the website be circulated widely as possible, via social media channels and to members of the Leyland Town Deal Advisory Board to promote and encourage feedback from local stakeholders;

7.    That a direct mail consultation be sent to local residents directly affected by the proposals;

8.    To consider promoting engagement in schools via a competition;

9.    That, having regard to the advice of Christina Shepherd from BEIS and the discussions outlined above, the final draft TIP includes:

i)             evidence of wider engagement with local businesses, residents, and local community

ii)            evidence of other funded programmes, e.g. match funding and linkages such as to the Dept. of Transport, other projects that may bring external funding and investments that link in to the scheme