Agenda item

A presentation covering the Council’s High Street Fund and plans to support  re-opening  of high streets across the district.

A presentation was given by the Economic Development Senior Specialist which provided members with an update on the high street fund.              

The Fund was launched in October 2019, and 11 district High Streets; Folkestone, Hythe, Cheriton, Sandgate, New Romney, Dymchurch, Hawkinge, Sellindge, Lydd, Lyminge and Elham, are eligible to apply. Maps of eligible high street areas can be found on the Folkestone Works website: https://folkestone.works/.

The objectives of the Fund are to: 

•      Bring empty high street properties back into commercial use.

•      Upgrade and adapt existing properties to improve appearance and street scene.

•      Improve townscape.

•      Introduce innovative products to support commercial operations.

Grants from £5,000 to £50,000 are available and can be up to 50% of total project costs (capital expenditure) 100% may be considered for special cases.  Grants are only issued on the completion of project works.

To date 33 projects have been awarded an HSF grants, and 11 projects have already been successfully delivered. The pandemic has caused delay in the delivery of some projects and therefore it had been decided the scheme should be extended for an additional 12 months meaning it is now due to end in March 2022. Seven new applications had been received and were now being processed.

Members were also given a briefing on the Folkestone Town Centre Place Plan, the key elements of which are: 

·         To provide a collective vision for the Council, partners, stakeholders, and community.

·         To celebrate and build upon the great work and investment to date.

·         Recognise the town’s inherent strengths and position Folkestone for the future.

Key themes within the Plan included; promoting investment and development opportunities; establishing a civic ‘heart’ & purpose - “One public estate”; creating public spaces and broader leisure provision for residents and visitors; delivering a shift in transport movements & maximise accessibility; encouraging town centre living as a vital component of a vibrant mixed use with an appropriate evening economy; creating an exemplar in sustainability and reaping the benefits of compact growth; to foster a dynamic/flexible employment environment transitioning away from a solely retail lead economy; promoting future town centre animation, markets, management and maintenance; inform wider review of Licensing Policy; place branding and promotion; identifying the challenges, issues and the potential solutions; consider impacts of national policy; funding opportunities, and developing an Action Plan for Folkestone Town Centre.

Public engagement was a key element to developing the Plan and therefore a webpage was to be launched before the end of March giving details of the Plan and how people can put forward their views. An important part of that will be, a public engagement event taking place on 19 April 2021. Parish Council members were therefore asked to promote the public engagement event in their area, by speaking to local people and putting up publicity posters on their parish noticeboard.

The Plan will be taken forward by a multi-disciplinary team made up of representatives from relevant Council Departments and there would be ongoing monitoring and interventions identified as required.

In answer to a question from Councillor Thomas, on the High Street Fund it was said that the Council recognised that an application to the Fund could possibly cause tensions between a landlord and tenant. Therefore, officers would be willing to help where they could on a case by case basis and were happy for their contact details to be passed to the parties involved.

In answer to a question from Councillor Hobbs, it was said, that there were some 17 applications in the pipe-line but only from areas where there had been previous applications. This meant that there had been no applications received from businesses in Lydd, Hawkinge or Elham.

Councillor Mrs Hollingsbee would send to officers, for their consideration, details of a project to provide disabled access for Sellindge Church.  

All Members of the Committee would be sent copies of the High Street Fund publicity poster for distribution within their Parish.