Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from John Adlen, Sally Hepton, Guy Kilminster, Mark Hills and Martin Wood.

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 2 June 2023.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the virtual meeting held on 2 June 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 an update on the Towns Fund and Accelerated Funding Projects & review their status.

The board received an update which included the positive progress with the following projects:

• The planning application for Crewe Youth Zone had been successful
• Crewe Youth Club and Mirion Street planning application had been submitted and a consultation event would be taking place in July.
• Repurposing High Streets had given its first grant scheme out – and a Programme Manager been successfully appointed.
• The History Centre had some final conditions to finalise with Planning then hoardings would be erected with demolition works expected to start on the old library and Undercroft car park in August.

The board discussed what its role would look like now that the projects were moving into the delivery phase. It was agreed that the structure of the board would be reviewed and that the board required more detail on the projects to ensure it could provide adequate oversight and scrutiny so that the projects had impact. It was suggested that this may be in the form of board members being assigned one or two projects to allow them to get to know them in detail.

Officers would also have a look at how they report back to the board in a sufficient way now that projects were entering the delivery phase.

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 from Cheshire East Council.

RESOLVED:

That the update be noted.

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

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. A more detailed plan and timeline would be presented to the board in due course and a working group was to be set up to discuss how the marketing vehicle would be developed.

It was requested that when looking at communications and key milestones it would be useful to have a forward look at communication milestones so that preparation could be done for evets such as ministerial visits, requests for quotes etc.

A media release in respect of the Chair of the Board stepping down and details of the recruitment drive had gone out and board members were asked to share this with their networks.

RESOLVED:

That the update be noted.

Ellie Cox, Area Coordinator, Cities & Local Growth Unit announced that she would be leaving her current role in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). The Chair congratulated Ellie on her promotion and thanked her for the support she had provided to the board.

To confirm the date of the next meeting as 4 August 2023 commencing at 9.30am.

RESOLVED

That the date of the next virtual meeting take place on Friday 4 August 2023 commencing at 9.30am.