To receive a verbal update from the Director of Director of Growth & Enterprise.
(Peter Skates to present-10 Minutes)
Minutes:
Peter Skates, the Director of Growth & Enterprise at Cheshire East Council attended the virtual meeting and gave verbal update in respect of Royal Arcade. He reported all the documentation had been completed.
The Council now had an agreed programme which he hoped to share next week with Board members. The planning application hopefully would be submitted by April 2021 in hybrid form with the remaining element of the commercial development being in outline. Subject to the successful discharge of conditions and a successful planning application consent by October, construction on the bus station and multi storey car park would commence by December 2021. The new interim bus station would become operational in Spring 2022 and the new bus station and multi storey car park operational by April 2023.
The Council intended to push the developer to get the remaining element of the commercial development into a planning application no later than May 2022 and the commercial element of the scheme would hopefully be completed by March 2025. He advised that he would circulate key miles stones to members next week.
In addition, he reported that the Council was taking a report forward on a number of items relating to Crewe. A report was being considered by the Environment & Regeneration Overview & Scrutiny Committee on Monday ahead of a report going to Cabinet on 10 November. It provided the opportunity for some recommendations to be put forward around the future high streets and stronger towns funding.
A report would be taken forward requesting provisional delegated authority to accept the grant for accelerated funding for Lyceum Square and the same for the high streets funding should the Council be successful, and that delegated authority would be in place to accept it in order to keep the momentum going.
The Council would also look to advise the Committee and Cabinet about the role of the Board and the fact that Cheshire East Council was the accountable body for the Board and to seek to delegate authority to the Portfolio Holder for Environment and Regeneration in consultation with the Executive Director and with the approval of the Board to submit to the Towns Investment Plan to Government in the future and to submit a bid for the towns fund to Government.
In respect of the existing bus station, the Council were in discussions with Arriva about the proposal for their early exit from the lease which was due to expire in early April 2021. The Council had undertaken some initial surveys and was in the process of obtaining costings and reviewing them within the team to see what early interventions from the Council would be required but clearly there were some significant costs. It was important to note that the inclusion of the demolition of the bus garages on Delamere Street had been written into the development agreement under Royal Arcade to take commence by March 2021.
Finally in terms of the market hall the appointment of market asset management as the operator had been confirmed and there was an invitation to the Board to attend a site visit possibly at the end of November/December to look at progress of the market hall.
Members welcomed the opportunity to visit the market hall and it was very much felt that the update was seen as a good news story with things moving in the right direction. The Chairman thanked the Director for addressing a number of the short-term issues.
RESOLVED
That the update be noted.