Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from John Adlen, Mark Hills and Frank Jordan.

Prior to the start of the virtual meeting the Chairman informed the Board of the passing of William Warrack, a partner in Cordwell Associates who had previously worked with the Board. The Chairman had passed on the Board’s condolences to the family.

The Chairman also wished to extend the Boards best wishes to Frank Jordan, Director of Places, who was due to leave Cheshire East Council at the end of the month.

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 2 July 2021 and to consider and note the actions from the virtual meeting.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the virtual meeting held on 2 July 2021 be approved as a correct record and the minutes from the informal meeting held on 21 July 2021 be noted. The Chair went through the list of actions from the previous virtual meeting and updated members on the status of each action accordingly.

To agree the Terms of Reference for the Crewe Town Board, as discussed at the previous meeting.

Following the letter received from the MHCLG the Boards Heads of Terms would need to be reviewed to reflect the changing role of the Board in stage 2 of the TIP.

RESOLVED

That further discussions would be held outside of the formal Board meeting to progress this.

To receive a presentation from James Sumner, CEO of Leighton Hospital, around the redevelopment of the hospital and surrounding areas, followed by a discussion around community based healthcare provisions.

The Board received a presentation from James Sumner, CEO of Leighton Hospital around the development of the hospital and surrounding areas. The presentation detailed the following areas:

-       The vision for the hospital;

-       The investment required;

-       The case for change including improving staff and patient wellbeing, tackling health inequalities, the inadequate digital infrastructure and the high backlog of maintenance.

-       Highlighting the opportunities it would open up;

-       A summary of the design.

Comments and questions were raised in respect of

-       What the Board would be able to do to help support the trust with the business case for its bid for one of 8 additional places on the Hospital Health Infrastructure Programme;

-       Following the relocation of office space had sites been identified for drop in centres;

-       What difficulties had there been in planning;

-       What other benefits would it provide i.e employment opportunities, carbon neutral;

-       During the segmentation exercise had the economic impact been taken in to consideration.

The Chairman offered to write a letter of support on the Board’s behalf to support the Trust with its bid for funding and a petition had been put in place by Dr Mullan MP. The link would be circulated to Board members to access the petition.

The Board thanked James for his presentation.

RESOLVED

That the presentation be noted and that

(1)  The chairman to write a letter of support on behalf of the Board;

(2)  The link to the petition would be circulated to Board members.

To receive an update on the progress on the Towns Fund Stage 2.

Dr Charles Jarvis gave a verbal update on the progress of the submission of the Heads of Terms which had been signed and submitted to Government on the 5 August 2021.

There was a discussion in respect of what work was required to review the projects over the next 8 weeks. This would include meetings of the project sub groups, a workshop with project leads and Hatch. Following the initial sum of £5,000 which had been allocated  for work with Hatch, a business case for additional funding had been submitted to Cheshire East Council to help support the work around the Assurance Framework.

Due to the shortfall in the funding that had been awarded it was suggested that as part of the review process of the projects, match funding would be explored to make up the shortfall, along with scalability and enhancing projects from other investors.

RESOLVED

That the update be noted.

To receive a detailed update from Adam Knight regarding the Ly2 Project. 

Adam Knight provided the Board with and overview of the Lyceum Square project design and timescales. It was reported that planning submission was imminent and pre-application discussions had led to the requirement to produce a Heritage Impact Assessment.

Following stakeholder engagement building works would commence in January 2022. To coincide with Easter holidays the reopening would take place on 17 April 2022.

Work with Crewe Town Council was underway to look at ways of animating the square in the mean time which included a programme of weekend activities, Art Trail and a Winter Wonderland.

Thanks was given to Crewe Town Council for their support, in particular the funding of the outdoor digital screen in the square which would showcase the towns events.

RESOLVED

That the update be noted.

To receive a sub-groups Update.

The Chair provided an update in respect of the Sub-Groups which included:

Transport Green & Blue Infrastructure Forum – The chair and vice-chair had now been appointed and the agenda for the next six months had been set.

Sports and Open Spaces Forum – This had been given the go ahead and writing out to individuals was a priority action.

RESOLVED

That the update be noted.

To receive an update from the Communication & Engagement Sub-Group.

Reverend David Edwardes provided a verbal update on the work the sub group had undertaken which included

-       looking at development of communications for each project and working with the individual groups.

-       Publishing the TIP

-       Stakeholder engagement – Reviewing the guidance for what was required for stage 2.

-       Looking at how to engage with unsuccessful projects

-       Updating the communications and engagement plan for stage 2

-       Youth engagement – looking at ways to communicate authentically

Lindsey Lewis informed the Board that training would be offered around communications to ensure there was consistency with branding, this would be in the form of a workshop.

Stakeholder engagement would need to be meaningful and affordable as there was no budget allocated for this. It would inform the way projects would be delivered and form part of the monitoring and evaluation programme.

Following the submission of the Heads of Terms the Board were informed that the TIP would be published at the end of next week.

RESOLVED

That the update be noted.

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

Peter Skates provided a verbal update on the Royal Arcade. A presentation had been received by Peveril Securities which had been circulated to Board members detailing the progress that had been made. A revised plan would then go out to public consultation prior to it being heard at Committee in September.

RESOLVED

That the update be noted.

To put forward items for discussion at future Board meetings.

·         Community Impact Fund (awaiting meeting with Doug)

·         December 2021 – June 2022 – Cleaner Crewe Update

·         December 2021 – June 2022 – Tom Evans Update

·         Housing Challenges in Crewe (Nick Mannion)

·         HS2 Stages and Timings

·         Kate Willard – Board Workshop – Good Governance (separate meeting to be arranged to include Board Members and Officers)

·         Private inward investment

·         Sponsorship opportunities for the ADHD society – (Lindsay Lewis)

·         Transport

o   Future Transport Presentation from Andrew Ross

o   Parking Strategy Consultation (going out to committee)

o   Transport Meeting & Footfall data for Crewe Town Centre – survey feedback

RESOLVED

Due to time constraints it was agreed that this item would be discussed at the meeting of the Crewe Town Board scheduled for 3 September 2021.

To put forward any other items of business.

Board Transparency

A discussion was held in respect of Board transparency. Although the Board wasn’t part of Cheshire East Council it was acknowledged that as an accountable body, Cheshire East Officers working with the Board were funded by public money.

Comments and questions were raised in respect of the following

-       Legal advice would be required as commercial sensitivity would need to be considered;

-       What form of governance did other Town Boards follow;

-       In addition to the minutes which were already published on the Cheshire  East website would a question and answer session with Board Members be welcomed by interested parties around the work the Board undertakes;

-       Media training would be welcomed by the Board;

RESOLVED

(1)  That Cheshire East Council officers write a report to be considered at the 3 September Crewe Town Board meeting around Board Governance and guidance;

(2)  That a question and answer session on stage 2 be organised with Board members once the TIP had been published.

To confirm the date of the next meeting as 3 September 2021 commencing at 9.30am.

That the date of the next virtual meeting take place on Friday 3 September 2021 commencing at 9.30am.