Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Andy Butler, Kim Cooper, Jasbir Dhesi, Sally Hepton, Frank Jordan, Lindsay Lewis and Martin Wood.

To receive any declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the previous virtual meeting held on 5 March 2021 and to consider and note the actions from the virtual meeting.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the virtual meeting held on 5 March 2021 be approved as a correct record.  The Chairman went through the list of actions from the previous virtual meeting and updated members on the status of each action accordingly.

Further to this the Chairman reported that unfortunately Cheshire East Council’s submission bid for funding from the Economies for Healthier Lives Fund had been unsuccessful.  It was noted that irrespective of the availability of funding further exploration would be undertaken to try to progress some of the projects using underspend from the Public Health grant.  This would be discussed further with officers from Cheshire East Council within the next few weeks.

In addition the Chairman reported that the planning application for a 5G mast for Edleston Road SF, Edleston Road, Crewe, which had been included as an item on the agenda at the previous meeting had been refused.

To consider an update on the progress on the Towns Fund.

The Chairman provided a verbal update in relation to the position regarding the Towns Fund.  In addition he advised that negotiations had taken place with Hatch as a result of an overrun on stage one funding.  It was agreed half of the requested amount would be shared.  Cheshire East Council had applied for further additional capacity funding to complete stage two.  He confirmed this additional funding had been received.

Further discussions would now take place between the Chairman, Cheshire East Council as the Accountable Body Hatch and to determine independently what additional work was required which would then enable the Board to negotiate with Hatch for final pricing for stage 2 but it had been made explicitly clear there could not be an overrun on stage 2.

Whilst an announcement on the TIP would be taken in due course it was reported that the Board should look at preparing a strong marketing and PR campaign and work on this had already commenced.  In addition a desktop analysis with the individual projects had been ongoing so members were assured work was taking place in the background whilst a decision was awaited.  Members were also advised an additional Board meeting might be required once an announcement came through on the TIP should the full amount not be allocated.

RESOLVED

That the update be noted.

John Adlen, Growth Director at the LEP and Andrew Ross, the Director of Highways & Infrastructure at Cheshire East Council attended the virtual meeting and gave a presentation on the Cheshire & Warrington HS2 growth corridor and the progress made so far in respect of proposals relating to the Crewe hub.

Members of the Board made comments and raised questions in respect of the following:-

·         The funding gap and how this would impact on the reality of what could be delivered;

·         The changes taking place within Crewe and what impact this would have on the Mill Street corridor;

·         The development of the Lidl supermarket was welcomed as the area around Mill Street was now more open;

·         Office space within Crewe should target high skilled occupations;

·         How would the advantages and benefits of the proposals for Crewe be communicated to local stakeholders;

·         Who would be responsible for promoting the development of Crewe nationally;

·         Concerns insufficient investment would lead to a ‘second class’ Crewe;

·         Discussions were ongoing with Government and final decisions were yet to be made;

·         Recognised the need to promote the fact that the hub was the only one of its kind located in the North of the country;

·         Whilst the Board saw HS2 as beneficial, vast areas of Cheshire East were against it.

RESOLVED

That the updates be noted.

To consider a report on the Levelling Up Fund.

Consideration was given to a report on the Levelling Up Fund alongside the UK Community Renewal Fund and the Community Ownership Fund.  In addition Dr Charles Jarvis, Head of Economic Development at Cheshire East Council provided further background information on the various funding regimes available.

It was noted that a meeting was scheduled to take place next week with Dr Charles Jarvis, Dr Kieran Mullan MP, Andrew Ross and Peter Skates to further discuss the proposals on the Levelling Up Fund.  It was suggested that conclusions from these discussions could be presented to members at a future meeting of the Board.

RESOLVED

That the report be noted.

To receive an update on the creation of sub-groups from Doug Kinsman/ Simon Yates.

Consideration was given to an update on the position regarding the sub-groups.

In respect of the Transportation sub-group the Chairman informed members that he would be circulating a letter inviting nominations for representatives to sit on the Transport Forum in order to progress the sub group.  It was agreed this approach should be adopted for the all other sub-groups.

RESOLVED

That the contents of the report be endorsed.

To receive an update from the Director of Growth & Enterprise including specific reference to        Lyceum Square and Future High Streets Fund.

Peter Skates, the Director of Growth & Enterprise attended the virtual meeting and gave a verbal update on the following:-

·         Royal Arcade – Following a consultation and event undertaken by Peveril, work had been undertaken to appraise the feedback obtained.  The planning application was on schedule and due to be submitted at the end of the month. 

·         Crewe market hall – Work was being undertaken to open the hall on 19 May subject to the lockdown road map remaining unchanged.  In addition work had been taking place in the background in respect of testing the acoustics within the market hall for live events.  One test at the end of March had been publicised on social media and a further Facebook live event was scheduled to be held on 17 April at 7pm for anyone interested in observing.  In response to the Chairman’s question about the number of units let it was confirmed that 14 out of the 17 were now occupied.

·         Post 12 April when hospitality was scheduled to reopen-Cheshire East Council were in the process of undertaking a campaign promoting ‘Say hi to the hight street’ in order to bring vitality back into the town centre as a result of non-essential shops being allowed to reopen from 12 April.  Officers at the Council were working closely with Crewe Town Council in terms of this campaign.

Adam Knight meeting and gave a verbal update in respect of Lyceum Square.  He reported that there had been a slight delay to arriving at Riba stage 3, however this was not considered an issue in terms of timescales and plans remained on course for the planning application to be submitted by end of month.  He thanked everyone for their feedback on the stage 2 presentation boards.

RESOLVED

That the update be noted.

To discuss COVID-19 in terms of approach and information sharing.

There was no further update in respect of this matter.

To put forward any other items of business.

Reverend David Edwards informed the Board that the Communication & Engagement sub-group were in discussions with Crewe Town Council for them sub-group to host the Crewe place brand on the Town Council’s website.

To confirm the date of the next meeting as 7 May 2021 commencing at 9.30am.

RESOLVED

That the date of the next virtual meeting take place on Friday 7 May 2021 commencing at 9.30am.