Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from John Adlen, Jasbir Dhesi, Jez Goodman, Rhiannon Hilton, Mark Hills, Dr Kieran Mullan MP, Martin Woods, and Carol Young.

To receive any declarations of interest.

There were no new or updated declarations of Interest, other than those already on file.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the previous virtual meeting held on 14 April 2023.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the virtual meeting held on 3 March 2023 be approved as a correct record. The chair went through a list of actions from the previous virtual meeting and updated members on the status of each action accordingly.

To receive a presentation on the above.

Greville Kelley and Ian Harvey from Groundwork (BID Consultants) provided the board with a presentation in respect of a private sector led proposal for a Business Improvement District in Crewe connecting Crewe town centre, Grand Junction Retail Park, and Nantwich Road. The project would be funded by Crewe Town Council and the BID’s vision would cover three themes: -

1.    A better Crewe experience

2.    Cleaner, Greener, Safer

3.    Connecting Crewe’s Business Communities

The draft plan for the Business Improvement district would be open for consultation to businesses until 22 June 2023 with a ballot on the BID proposal taking place in November 2023. If successful, implementation would commence in 2024.

RESOLVED:

That the presentation be noted.

To receive a detailed update on the Towns Fund and Accelerated Funding Project & review their status prior to submission of the six monthly Performance Report to DLUHC.

Daniel Lindsay, Ekosgen provided an update on the Towns Fund performance. There had been meetings with the project leads to review the latest position for each project in respect of spend to date, forward expenditure profile, profile of outputs and key project risks.

Flag Lane Baths

-       Targeted completion date of August 2024

-       Value engineering work is ongoing

Cumberland Arena

-       Expected completion June 2024.

Mill Street Corridor

-       Completion date of March 2026.

Warm and Healthy Homes

-       Still awaiting confirmation of dedicated Project management resource.

Historic Centre Public Realm

-       Expected completion March 2025.

-       Match funding is confirmed

Repurposing our High Streets

-       Formal launch of the scheme is expected in July 2023.

Pocket Parks

-       FCC funding approved (subject to grant agreement)

Valley Brook Corridor

-       Expected completion August 2025.

Youth Zone

-       Expected completion is February 2025.

RESOLVED:

That the update be noted.

To receive an update from the sub-group, including further details on the progress of Marketing Crewe.

Report to follow

The board received an update from Paul Coleman, South Cheshire Chamber of Commerce in respect of the requirement for an independent ‘organisation’ to be established to provide marketing and communications for Crewe.

The South Cheshire Chamber of Commerce would establish the ‘Marketing Crewe’ vehicle with Crewe Town Board overseeing the strategic direction of ‘Marketing Crewe’. It was felt that ‘Marketing Crewe’ would have the following benefits:

-       Enhance the town’s profile

-       Attract investment

-       Support local businesses

-       Promote tourism

-       Faster collaboration

-       Engage and inspire the community

RESOLVED:

That the update be noted.

To receive an update from the Director of Growth and Enterprise.

Peter Skates, the Director of Growth & Enterprise attended the meeting and gave a verbal update in respect of Phase 1 Royal Arcade which was on course to be completed by January 2024.

RESOLVED:

That the update be noted.

To put forward any other items of business.

Board recruitment Process

The Board received an updated job description for board members along with a timeline for the recruitment of new members. The board welcomed the amendments to the job description and agreed that it was important to reach as wider a pool of people as possible.

Further amendments following feedback from the board would be made to the job description which would then be circulated to board members. An advert would be created and circulated with a view to holding interviews in July 2023.

RESOLVED:

That following the amendments to the job description being included, the job description would be circulated to board members.

To confirm the date of the next meeting as 7 July 2023 commencing at 9.30am.

RESOLVED

That the date of the next virtual meeting take place on Friday 7 July 2023 commencing at 9.30am.