Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor N Mannion.

To receive any declarations of interest.

In the interests of openness Councillor Jill Rhodes declared an interest as a political appointee of Cheshire East Council and Crewe Town Council.

In the interests of openness Simon Yates declared an interest in Flag Lane Baths.

In the interests of openness Adam Knight declared an interest as co-project sponsor for Lyceum Powerhouse, Chair of the Cultural Forum and Director of Lyceum for HQ Theatres.

In the interests of openness Dr Kieran Mullan MP declared that he had been directly involved with the Pocket Parks scheme and the History Centre Public Spaces project.

In the in interests of openness Jasbir Dhesi declared an interest as he had previously offered support and expertise on several bids that had been submitted.

In the interests of openness Reverend David Edwards declared an interest in Flag Lane Baths.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the previous virtual meeting held on 3 September 2021.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the virtual meeting held on 3 September 2021 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 an update on the progress on the Towns Fund.

Charles Jarvis provided the board with an update on the completion of gateway 1 and the timetable for gateway 2 which included:

Following a sift process through the board and government, all ten projects had been recommended to go through to the next stage. To address the funding shortfall received from government it was suggested that adjustments be made to the parameters for The Pocket Parks and the Repurposing High Street projects.

There was a discussion in respect of identifying projects which were more scalable than others, the opportunity to be flexible with funding, the pandemic highlighting the need for more open spaces and the likelihood of future funding being made available for projects, specifically the Warm and Healthy Homes project. Following discussion it was proposed that the funding for the Warm and Healthy Homes project be rebalanced.

Further issues to submit by 5 October 2021 included:

TIP improvements - further details on governance arrangements and planned public and private stakeholder engagement.

Assurance -  Business cases for each project would be taken through Cheshire East Council, in line with the local assurance process. Projects would be signed off, and funding allocation overseen by the Section 151 officer who, as well as board members and Cheshire East officers formed part of the Tip sub-group membership.

Public Sector Equalities Duty – completed Impact and environmental assessments.

Monitoring and Evaluation Plan – This would be re-addressed following the revised funding profiles.

Project Conditions for Warmer Homes and Youth Zone - completed

A press release on the project list and funding package submitted to the government would be released on the 6 October. It was suggested that an Annual General Meeting be arranged in due course, which would be an open meeting providing an update on progress made so far.

The sub-group and Cheshire East Officers were thanked by the Board for their hard work and support on the Towns Fund and the Future High Street Fund projects.

RESOLVED

That the board agree that all ten projects would be submitted to MHCLG by the 5 October with the new funding envelopes applied to the projects discussed.

To receive a sub-groups update.

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

Youth Sub-Group - Following the summer holidays a meeting had now been scheduled.

Transport Green & Blue- Infrastructure Forum - The sub-group was going well and in the future it would look at how it would feed back in to Crewe Town Board.

Sports and Open Spaces – this would be progressed by the Chair next week.

The Heritage Centre Working Group – Although the Heritage Centre hadn’t formed part of the project list, a working party had been formed which included consultancy work to look at the governance structure and how it could be developed to help for any future funding bids.The first step in the process would be to apply for the Museum Accreditation scheme, this had been successful, and work would continue to further develop this in the future.

RESOLVED

That the update be noted.

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

The board heard that following a delay in getting the TIP published due to media enquiries, along with a period of Purdah, it would be published in in line with the submission back to government and announcement of projects.

Work had been underway for the commissioning of the spoken word video and a meeting with Squeaky Pedal had been scheduled. An update on social media and discussion in respect of the message and narrative that would be communicated would be provided at the next board meeting.

RESOLVED

That the updated be noted.

To receive an update from the Director of Growth & Enterprise, including an update on Ly2 and Royal Arcade.

Peter Skates gave a verbal update in respect of the following

The Royal Arcade – Following Planning permission being granted at the Strategic Planning Board on the 15 September, work was underway with Peveril working towards implementation.

Market Hall  - The organisation has been shortlisted for two North West construction awards – conservation & regeneration, along side a sub regional award, the winners would be announced on the 19 November 2021.

LY2 – The planning application had been submitted and work around media and communication was underway which involved stakeholder engagement events taking place at the Lyceum and Market Hall in the next few weeks.

RESOLVED

That the update be noted.

To put forward any other items of business.

Sports Facilities shortage

There was discussion in respect of the shortage of facilities within Crewe and the lack of any improvements for Crewe in the current 2021 Open Spaces strategy for Cheshire East Council

It was acknowledged that there was a will to develop a strategy for sports and open spaces specifically for Crewe; efforts would be put in to getting the Sports and Open Spaces Forum up and running so that engagement and collaboration with stakeholders could begin.

To confirm the date of the next meeting as 5 November 2021 commencing at

9.30am.

RESOLVED

That the date of the next virtual meeting take place on Friday 5 November 2021 commencing at 9.30am