Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber , Town Hall, Dewsbury. View directions

Contact: Nicola Sylvester  Email: nicola.sylvester@kirklees.gov.u

Items
No. Item

1.

Appointment of Board Members 4:30 - 4:40

Keith Ramsay, Chair – Dewsbury Town Deal Board.

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That Charley Dunn, Robert Livingston and Sophie Johnson be appointed as Dewsbury Town Deal Board Members

2.

Membership of Dewsbury Town Deal Board

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

Minutes:

Apologies of absence were received from Nancy Barrett and Heather Waddington.

 

Sarah Ward substituted on behalf of Mark Eastwood and Jane Jackson substituted on behalf of Charles Smith.

 

3.

Declaration of Interests

Members will be asked to advise if there are any items on the Agenda in which they have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest, which would prevent them from participating in any discussion on the item of participating in a vote upon the item, or any other interests.

Minutes:

No interest were received.

 

4.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 198 KB

To approve the minutes of the meeting of the Board held on Thursday 30th March 2023.

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 30th March 2023 be approved as a correct record subject to the addition that Brigantia Creative, the project manager for the Creative Hub, was unable to deliver the project and had withdrawn their services.

 

5.

Admission of the Public

Most debates take place in public.  This only changes where there is a need to consider certain issues, for instance, commercially sensitive information or details concerning an individual.  You will be told at this point whether there are any items on the agenda which are to be discussed in private, by  virtue of the reports containing information which falls within a category of exempt information as contained at Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

 

Minutes:

It was noted that exempt information was considered in relation to Agenda item 10.

 

6.

Public Question Time 4.45 - 4.55

The meeting will hear any questions from the general public.  Members of the public can ask questions relating to the work of the Town Board or issues set out in this agenda.

Minutes:

Questions received from Mr Bruce Bird.

 

“Will the Chair arrange that the agenda published five days in advance, offering the opportunity of questions from the public, also advise them of the need for advance notification?”

 

A response was provided by the Chair of the Board.

 

“Will the Chair undertake to establish an accurate interpretation regarding any pre-election period relating to the Board based on government guidance, and publish it in the new Terms of Reference currently being developed?”

 

A response was provided by the Chair of the Board.

 

“Can the Chair advise how he justifies the absence of information on the Town Investment Plan visible in the town centre, and the failure of the Board, to deliver relevant information to the people of Dewsbury for a period approaching two years?”

 

The Chair of the Board undertook to respond to the question in writing.

 

“Has the Chair yet carried out the Board’s instruction from September 2022 on the Market Strategy, and can he advise when he plans to report back to the Board on the arrangements he has made?”

 

The Chair of the Board undertook to respond to the question in writing.

 

“Will the Chair clarify the following with regards to the removal of a Board Member by the Council:

  • What opportunity this offers the Board Member concerned to rebut the allegations?,
  • How the process is open to scrutiny in order to comply with the Nolan Principles?,
  • Will he ensure that clarification on scrutiny is included in the revised Terms of Reference?”

 

A response was provided by the Chair of the Board.

 

7.

Deputations/Petitions 4:55 - 5:00

The Board will receive any petitions and hear any 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 hand in a petition at the meeting but that petition should relate to something on which the Board has powers and responsibilities. In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10 (2), Members of the Public should provide at least 24 hours’ notice of presenting a deputation.

Minutes:

No deputations or petitions were received.

 

8.

Daisy Hill Project Update 5:00 - 5:15 pdf icon PDF 983 KB

Contact: Thomas Fish, Strategic Partner Lead, Housing Growth.

Minutes:

The Board received a presentation from Thomas Fish on the Daisy Hill Project.

 

A summary of recent acquisitions was provided which detailed 46 Daisy Hill, Neil Jordan House – Wellington Road, Edward Latham House and 7-9 Union Street. In 2022 West Yorkshire Combined Authority funded due diligence and feasibility work through their Housing Pipeline Revenue Funding Programme.  The Outline Technical Feasibility study looked at access and movement, ground conditions, services and utilities, flood risk, ecology, air quality, noise and vibration, and cultural heritage.  DLA architects looked at indicative options for the new build residential developments in Daisy Hill, whilst Cushman & Wakefield looked at housing market values, development viability and engaged with a cross section of developers and considered other case studies of housing led urban regeneration.

 

During discussion, Board Members asked questions around the engagement process that Cushman and Wakefield had undertaken and requested details of the number of developers, the size of the developer, along with the specialism of the developer, and if they were specialist developers within Dewsbury.

 

Board Members queried the purchase of Neil Jordan House and the benefits to Dewsbury.  Ms Bartholomew advised that Neil Jordan House was a gateway building and was key to the Daisy Hill project adjacent to Field house opposite the train station. Mr Fish advised that the business case had a list of properties, the focus was on a specific area of those properties on the list.

 

The Board noted that the full report on the Daisy Hill project was not available to Members, however, extracts had been provided and further information requested by the Board was available.

 

RESOLVED:           

a)    That the presentation be noted,

b)    That a breakdown of the numbers, size of the developers and specialism of the developers that were part of the engagement to be provided to Board Members,

c)    That Cushman and Wakefield provide a statement to the Board on the market engagement,

d)    That a report on the step-by-step intention for each building be provided to the Board at a future meeting.

 

9.

Building Revival Scheme 5:15 - 5:30

Contact: John Lambe, Economic Resilience Project Officer.

Minutes:

The Board received a presentation from John Lamb on the Building Revival Scheme.

 

The revival grant scheme offered grants to businesses to improve the frontage of properties in the town centre area.  To date there had been five active properties, two of which had been completed and three that were currently on site, with other owners submitting interests in the grant scheme. Grants that were received followed a design guide which set out in detail how architects could install conservation compliant designs. It was important to note that the owners also contributed to the improvements.

 

Ms Bartholomew advised that it was important to recognise the investment, not only financial, but officers time and wanted to spread the word of the grant scheme.

 

During discussion, Board Members raised questions on the grant values. Mr Lamb advised the grants ranged from £5k to £125k which were project costs. Ms Bartholomew suggested that information be provided on the investments the council had made into individual buildings in the town centre to bring new board members up to date and refresh current board members.

 

RESOLVED:

a)    That the presentation be noted,

b)    That the Board receives information on each of the properties that applied for grants with the current position and breakdown of budget.

 

10.

Project Updates 5.30 - 5:45 pdf icon PDF 127 KB

Contact: Michelle Illingworth, ER Project Officer – Dewsbury Town Investment Plan.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Board received an update from Michelle Illingworth on projects of Dewsbury Town Deal which explained that:

 

Fibre Capability – The scheme had been completed at the end of March 2023 and was delivered within budget.

 

Arcade – The Council continued to work with the National Heritage Lottery Fund (NHLF) to support them in the grant process.  The NHLF visited the Arcade on 15th May 2023 and a decision was expected on the grant application 16th June 2023.

 

Field House – The grant agreement had progressed to final stages and was to be completed soon.  Kirklees Council had reached an in principal agreement with Mood Developments.

 

Sustainable Transport Modes – Kirklees Highways and Operations and Strategy and Design project officers had met with the contractor to visit Bond Street to carry out a value engineering exercise to look at costs. This was to understand what could be delivered within the project budget as inflation costs had meant that the project required some changes including not proceeding with the installation of the carriageway stone sets between Union Street and Northgate. The project was due to start October 2023 and was a 4-month programme.  The final designs on the scheme were due to be finalised May 2023.  With regards to Wellington Street, a start date had not been agreed as proposals were still under way.

 

Cultural Events – The Board was provided with a list of events that had taken place in April and were due to take place in May and June 2023.

 

During discussion, the Board raised a question on the timeline of appointment of the Events Manager for the Arcade. Peter Mason advised that the Events Manager was required to start events to raise funds and get community support.  Ms Bartholomew advised that there was a business case for the Arcade which included details on the Events Manager.

 

The Board raised concerns on the status reports, as it was felt that there were a lot of ‘To be confirmed’ (TBC) in terms of the dates. It was felt that didn’t help the Board hold Kirklees Council to account. Ms Illingworth advised that with regards to the Construction Skills Village, the project officer would be attending the next board meeting to provide an update with dates.

 

RESOLVED:

a)    That the update be noted

b)    That an update on the Construction Skills Village be presented to the Board at the July 2023 Board meeting.

 

11.

Terms of Reference 5:45 - 5:55 pdf icon PDF 448 KB

Keith Ramsay, Chair – Dewsbury Town Deal Board.

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That the Terms of Reference be considered at the next Board meeting in July 2023.

 

12.

Chairs Update 5:55 - 6:05

Keith Ramsay – Chair of Board.

Minutes:

The Chair advised the Board that he had been invited to a dinner at Kirklees College in Huddersfield to celebrate Ofqual’s awarding recent inspection of the College. The awarding of a Good rating was a success for the college.

 

13.

Date of future Meetings

20 July 2023

28 September 2023

16 November 2023

 

For Terms of Reference please visit

 

www.kirklees.gov.uk/beta/regeneration-and-development/pdf/deswbury-town-board-terms-of-reference-jan-2021.pdf

 

Minutes:

20 July 2023

28 September 2023

16 November 2023

 

14.

Exclusion of the Public

To resolve that under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business, on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

Minutes:

15.

Project Updates 6:05 - Close

To consider exempt information in relation to Agenda item 10.

Minutes: