Agenda and draft minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 17 November 2020 were agreed as a true record.

To receive a presentation.

Julia Wallace, Masterplanning Project Manager, gave an extensive presentation which set out phase 1 of the masterplan.

She and John Bunnett, Managing Director, responded to a series of questions raised and made points including the following:

following:

·       With regard to the location of the Health Centre, further discussion was needed with the CCG. There was flexibility on the location.

·       Soft market testing had taken place with developers, on a local, regional and national level.

·       The causeway was originally planned to be for pedestrians and cyclists, but options were being considered to potentially allow traffic along part of the causeway.

·       With regard to connectivity to public transport, the proximity to the train station was important, and the train station was only a five minute walk away.  There was a bus only crossing on Stone Street, but transport providers were working on further plans around this.

·       Underground parking would not be considered as part of Phase 1, but could be something for consideration in the future.

·       The phase 1 masterplan is a tier 2 planning document but will be submitted to support the outline planning application. Consultation with the public on the draft plans is due to start on 19 March.

·       Discussions were ongoing with Highways England around the objections they had raised at the Core Strategy Examination in Public.

Members noted the very informative update.

To receive a presentation.

Miranda Chapman of Pillory Barn gave a presentation which set out plans on consultation with a virtual community.  The following points were discussed:

·       The 100 people within the virtual community were not all residents from within the district, to ensure varying perspectives were sought.

·       There was a lot of flexibility within the engagement plan.

Members noted and supported the presentation.

To note the latest update to the risk register.

John Bunnett, Managing Director gave a detailed update on the Strategic Risk Register, advising on variations since the previous update in November.  Members discussed various risks and mitigations in place and agreed to keep the matters under close review.

To provide an update on the members’ agreement.

The Assistant Director of Governance and Law advised of three main changes to the agreement since it was presented at Cabinet on 20 January. These included:

·       With regard to the payment of interest, this would be payable on capital contributions.

·       Clarity to state that the business plan would be for a five year period, with annual updates.

·       The notice period on meetings had been reduced from 10 working days to 5, in line with the council’s general practise.

Members noted the update.

There was no other business.