Agenda and draft minutes

To receive apologies for absence from Board Members who are unable to attend this meeting.

Apologies were received on behalf of Councillor Cathy Scott, Martin Walsh, Helen Rose, Peter Mason and Chief Superintendent Jim Griffiths.

Members will be asked to say if there are any items on the Agenda in which they have any disclosable pecuniary interests or any other interests, which may prevent them from participating in any discussion of the items or participating in any vote upon the items.

No interests were declared.

To approve the minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 16^th May 2024.

RESOLVED – That the Minutes of the meeting held on 16 May 2024 be approved as a correct record.

Most agenda items take place in public. This only changes where there is a need to consider exempt information, as contained at Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. You will be informed at this point which items are to be recommended for exclusion and to be resolved by the Board.

All items were considered in public.

The meeting will hear any questions from the general public.

Questions should be emailed to executive.governance@kirklees.gov.uk no later than 5:00pm Monday 22^nd July 2024.

Members of the public can ask questions relating to the work of the Town Board or issues set out on this agenda.

No questions were asked.

The Board will receive any petitions and/or deputations from members of the public. A deputation is where up to five people can attend the meeting and make a presentation on some particular issue of concern. A member of the public can also submit a petition at the meeting relating to a matter on which the body has powers and responsibilities.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10, Members of the Public must submit a deputation in writing, at least three clear working days in advance of the meeting and shall subsequently be notified if the deputation shall be heard. A maximum of four deputations shall be heard at any one meeting.

No deputations or petitions were recevied.

Keith Ramsay – Town Board Chair.

The Chair advised the Board that an announcement had been made by the Government around the timing for submission of the Long-Term Plan due to the recent general election.  This had now been suspended, and although a specific date for submission had not yet been identified, it was possible the submission deadline would be around six weeks away.

The Chair explained that this now gave the Board an opportunity to extend the consultation, particularly to gather the views of young people once they return to school and college at the beginning of September. 

The Chair questioned the representatives from the Department for Local Government, Housing and Communities who were in attendance at the meeting, whether the new Government would continue with the schemes of which Dewsbury Town Board was one.  Richard Thorpe explained that given it was such a recent change in Government, it would take a little time to set out next steps and timeframes. 

Mr Thorpe explained that discussions were being undertaken with the Treasury around spending ability, and this would inform individual decisions on schemes, noting that some had legal implications and some areas were further along in the process than others. It was likely that there would be a shift in terminology and the branding may change.

The Board was advised by Mr Thorpe that the schemes could possibly fall within the wider West Yorkshire ten-year economic plan, but they key message being fed back to the Government was the need for funding flexibility.

The Chair agreed that he would join with the chairs of Castleford and Keighley Town Boards in writing to the Government to seek clarification on the future direction of the schemes.  This would be drafted and shared with the Board for approval.

The Board was reminded by the Chair to ensure that their declaration of interest forms were completed and up to date.

RESOLVED –

1)    That the Chairs update be noted.

2)    That a joint letter between Dewsbury, Castleford and Keighley be drafted and circulated to Board Members.

Dewsbury Town Board Members.

No updates were considered.  

Contact: Helen Jakes, Senior Communications Officer.

The Board received a presentation which updated them on the Long-Term Plan Community Engagement, Field House and the Arcade. Jenny Tully and John Prendergast from Counter Context attended the meeting to update on the six engagement events that had taken place. 

The Board was advised that engagement work to date had been successful in reaching the public and a large number of people spoken to completed the feedback forms.  There were some consistent concerns around communication with a concern that although there is a lot of information available about the work of the Town Board, it was how that information was accessible for the public.

Helen Jakes, Senior Communication Officer for Kirklees Council advised that in relation to Field House, the banner that had been commissioned would go up on 2 August 2024 which would have a QR code directly to the Town Board website.  Ms Jakes advised that she was working with the Council’s communication team to promote it via a press release.

Regarding the Arcade, Ms Jakes explained that the aim was to get as many hoardings up as possible, which would outline the plans so that the public knew what was happening.  The hoardings will advertise the space available for businesses inside the arcade and will also advertise the Town Board.

The Taking the Lead campaign was a series of events and activities that had run over 18 months with clear indications of outputs and key achievements throughout the programme.

The Board was advised that the timing of the announcement of a general election had curtailed the ability to promote the events due to pre-election restrictions.

Ms Tully advised that a key message from the public was the communication from the Town Board, particularly the public not being aware that the Town Board meetings were open to the public and that they could attend and ask questions.   There had also been feedback regarding the continued closure of the Dewsbury Sports Centre and parking within the town centre. 

In total across the events and online, 476 feedback forms had been received with another 20 still to collect.  Over 1000 people were engaged with at the events, and 30,000 people had visited the website page with a total of 300 postcode areas being represented.

Ms Tully explained that the timing of the pre-election period had meant that the voice of young people had not been as strong in the communication, and now that the Long-Term plan deadline had been extended, this provided them with an opportunity to revisit the workshops to ensure the voice of young people in Dewsbury was represented.

The Board agreed that further work needed to be done to communicate with the public around the work of the Town Board, particularly via social media.  It was agreed that if official communication was put out by either the Council, Town Board or Counter Context, the Board members would endeavour to promote that via their own social media presence.

The Board commented that one of the Counter Context  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Contact: David Wildman, Strategic Partnership Lead –Development, Town

              Centres.

              James Blamires, Economic Resilience Project Officer.

David Wildman, Strategic Partnership Lead for Town Centres, Kirklees Council reiterated the suspension of the Long-Term Plan submission to the Government.

Mr Wildman commented that whilst the results of the consultation to date were representative, the suspension gave the Town Board the opportunity to engage further, particularly with young people. 

Mr Wildman commented that the consultation confirmed that the Board did understand locally what needed to happen in Dewsbury and the engagement so far had highlighted the priorities for the community. 

The Long-Term Plan was progressing with some forewords being draft along with a section around what success looked like along with key performance indicators within the document.

RESOLVED –

1)    That Mr Wildman be thanked for his attendance and his update on the Long-Term Plan.

2)    That the draft version of the Long-Term Plan be circulated to the Board once completed.

To receive updates on the following projects:

·         Sustainable Transport Modes

·         Arcade

·         Market

·         Town Park – Public Realm

·         Daisy Hill

·         Building Grant Revival Scheme

·         Kirklees Build

Contact: Michelle Illingworth, Project Officer, Town Investment Plan.

Andy Raleigh, Economic Resilience Manager, Development, Major    

Projects. 

The Board received the project updates and significant events were highlighted.  In relation to the Market and Town Park, the planning application would be submitted in August with some changes to the loading bays being replaced with planting. The Board was assured that access would still be available for the market and events taking place, although the area would be car free during markets and events.

The Board was asked to consider whether it still felt the water feature was the most appropriate use of the area identified for animation, given the cost to maintain the feature, as this needed to be decided before planning permission was requested. The water feature was at the heart of the scheme and would have low level fountains with a pump and channel for incidental play.

The Board was advised that the consultation identified public support for the water feature as part of a unique offer to Dewsbury, to help activate the space and encourage a mix of visitors including young families. The cost to maintain would be c£30k per year. Initially this would be paid for through commuted sums from capital funding, but future costs could be sought through donations, grants, and sponsorships.

RESOLVED –

1)    That officers be thanked for their attendance and updates on the projects.

2)    That it be agreed the water feature remain part of the Town Park Scheme for the purposes of the planning application.

3)    That in relation to the ongoing costs for the water feature in the Town Park, an options paper be considered at a future meeting of the Board.

No other business was discussed.  

5^th September 2024

Location: Dewsbury Town Hall

For Terms of Reference please visit

https://www.kirklees.gov.uk/beta/regeneration-and-development/pdf/dewsbury-town-board-terms-of-reference.pdf

RESOLVED - The Board agreed to move the date of the next meeting so that the Long Term Plan could be approved.