Agenda, decisions and minutes

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

Apologies were received on behalf of Chief Superintendent Jim Griffiths and Paul Burnett.

Apologies were received on behalf of Chief Superintendent Jim Griffiths and Paul Burnett.

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.

No interests were declared.

Forms are to be completed and received prior to the next Board meeting to allow Board Members to participate.

To approve the minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 03 October 2024.

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 3^rd October 2024 were approved as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 3^rd October 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.

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 25^th November 2024 .

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

Public questions were received and a response provided.

Written questions from Councillor Paul Moore:

1)    With the closure of Dewsbury Sports Centre confirmed this month, which I appreciate is not the remit of this board, my question is about the devastating impact this will have on footfall in the town centre.

With just over 20,000 visits per month now gone forever, coupled with Kirklees staff being removed from Empire House how has the Dewsbury Blueprint been amended to reflect this chronic loss of footfall and what is the town board’s strategy to try and address/replace this footfall?

Joanne Bartholomew, Director for Development, provided a response on the Dewsbury Blueprint which was developed with footfall in the town centre in mind. Projects such as the Town Park, the Market and the reopening of the Arcade were key to ensuring increased footfall in the town centre. Ms Bartholomew undertook to forward the Cabinet report associated with the Dewsbury Sports Centre to the Board Members and the questioner, as it contained information on the impact of footfall in the area.

The Chair noted that the Board recognised that the Dewsbury Sport Centre was a priority for the community, however, that funding secured by the Town Deal, and any future funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government could not be used to fund its re-opening. Funding for the Dewsbury Sports Centre was a matter for the Council to respond to. The focus of Dewsbury Town Board remained on the delivery of committed projects to support regeneration and on a programme of interventions to be brought forward through a long-term plan to support economic growth.

2)      Since being elected as a Councillor in May 2023 I have seen shops and businesses shutting at an alarming rate, little if any enforcement of street drinkers and large groups of men congregating and intimidating people in the town centre, especially women. People perceive Dewsbury town centre as not being safe, which I think is a fair assessment. Can this board agree to multi agency approach to target visible enforcement on market days, which are Wednesday and Saturday, so we give the public confidence and try and protect the only two days where there is some reasonable footfall left in Dewsbury town centre?

The Chair responded to the question by advising that the Board supported multi-agency working and would be seeking revenue funding to help deal with compliance and safety and security in the next financial year.

Question from Christine Cagna:

“Since Dewsbury was, and is still, billed as a Leisure Town, what specific plans are in place to make this a reality as Dewsbury Sports Centre, which was a given in original plans, has now been closed permanently?”

The Chair responded to the question by referring to his earlier response on Dewsbury Sports Centre and advised that the Board would support leisure and health activity in the long term plan strategy.

A supplementary question was asked, which queried how long it would be until plans were put in place to provide Dewsbury residents  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

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 received.

No deputations or petitions were received.

Keith Ramsay – Chair of Board

RESOLVED:

That the Chair’s update be noted.

The Chair provided an update on a number of issues, which included updates from Kirklees Council officers.

Clarity on the geographical boundary of the Town Board and whether the Dewsbury Sports Centre is within that geographical boundary.

-       David Wildman, Head of Town Centre Regeneration apologised for any previous confusion regarding geographic and funding boundaries. He went on to state the following:

-       The geographic boundary for the Town Board was set by Central Government as the Office for National Statistics ONS Built Up Area, this is the area shown in Appendix A of the March 2024 Terms of Reference. In developing the Town Investment Plan it was agreed that the primary focus of investment activities should be the town centre. In response to the Long-term Plan for Towns guidance, issued by the Government, the Terms of Reference were updated (and issued in March 2024) but the geographic boundary for the Town Board remained unchanged as the ONS Built Up Area.

-       However, it was agreed by Board members with advice from Government officials that any future funding should focus on the town centre to ensure future investment builds on and aligns with existing regeneration plans and priorities.

-       The Sports Centre has always been within the boundary of the geographic area covered by the Town Board. However, the Town Deal funding was allocated to specific schemes (the majority of which are within the town centre to support economic regeneration) through an appraisal and business case process which was approved by Government.

-       We await the new prospectus and scope for the long-term plan for Towns but we expect the geographic boundary to remain as is shown within Appendix A of the March 2024 Terms of Reference.

Summary of how the Town Deal projects were identified

-       The Chair provided a summary to remind members the process  undertaken to identify the Town Deal projects:

-       The Strategic Development Framework 2010 was developed in partnership with Kirklees Council and Yorkshire Forward and included an extensive amount of public engagement. 

-       The Strategic Development Framework 2018 was a refresh of the original 2010 Strategic Development Fund and developed and set out a 25-year vision for the town centre. It was supported by a delivery programme that included projects and actions over the next 5 years.

-       Dewsbury Blueprint was launched in Spring 2020 and outlined a 10-year plan to bring more activity into the centre, and make it more attractive and more accessible.

-       Dewsbury Blueprint Consultation undertaken in 2020 by Kirklees Council sought to gain an understanding from the public as to how the Blueprint should be shaped, for the benefit of for residents, business and visitors to the town centre.

-       June 2020 - Avison Young appointed to prepare and develop the Dewsbury Town Investment Plan (TIP), this included a review of the above documents and consultation results.

-       October 2020 – Social Communications appointed to carry out an inclusive programme of consultation and engagement to support the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Dewsbury Town Board Members.

There were no updates regarding Dewsbury Town Board Members.

RESOLVED:

There were no updates regarding Dewsbury Town Board Members.

To receive a communications update.

Contact:  Helen Jakes, Senior Communications Officer.

               Helen Rose, Dewsbury Town Board Member.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the Communication Update be noted.

2)    That £12,500 be allocated to the Working Group in relation to communications around the town centre and to report back to the Board.

Helen Jakes, Senior Communications Officer, provided an update regarding visible communications in the Town Centre. The hoardings around the Arcade gave detailed information about the Arcade project and further information on the plans for Dewsbury Town Centre. Signage referencing the Board was visible from the Ring Road on the side of Field House. The issue of Dewsbury being multi-lingual had been addressed through translators available at in-person engagement events, and options for written communications in multiple languages were being considered. Anum Rehman agreed to meet with Helen Jakes to discuss translation of communication into languages commonly spoken in the community.

Helen Rose, Vice Principal of Kirklees College, advised the Board that a Town Board Working Group had met to provide a focus on communications. Ms Rose advised that a final report would be received from Counter Context and the website was making progress. The key message from the working group was that Board Members engaging with and sharing content on social media about the projects would be beneficial.

Ms Jakes informed the Board that there was the opportunity to increase physical communication activity in the town centre and provided a number of options with associated costs. The Board agreed to allocate a budget of up to £12,500, and asked that a proposal from the Town Board Working Group be provided by the 6^th February.

Ms Jakes noted that communications from December 2024 to March 2025 would include the following:

·       The relocation of the bandstand to Crow Nest park.

·       The visit from Kirklees College’s new skills village, ‘Kirklees Build’, to the arcade.

·       The installation of planter signage.

·       A construction update on the Dewsbury Arcade, highlighting the local business working on the glass roof.

·       Details of the Dewsbury Market decant, how this will work within the town centre and for traders.

·       Supporting the Arcade Group in seeking new traders.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the Communication Update be noted.

2)    That £12,500 be allocated to the Town Board Working Group in relation to communications around the town centre and to report back to the Board.

To receive an update on the Long Term Plan.

Contact: David Wildman, Acting Head of Town Centres.

              James Blamires, Economic Resilience Project Officer,

              Michelle Illingworth, Project Officer, Dewsbury Town Investment

              Plan.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the Long-Term Plan update be noted.

2)    That an update on the Kirklees Council strategy for Dewsbury’s disused buildings be presented at the next Board meeting.

The Chair advised the Board that the funding for the Long-Term Plan was originally planned to be available from April 2025, this had now been delayed to April 2026.

Mr Wildman provided an update and explained that the Town Board programme may be renamed and would be reformed, with a new prospectus expected in January 2025 which would include a revised set of interventions, to reflect Labour’s missions and provide more flexibility. It was expected that the ten-year profile and the amount of funding would remain the same.

A small amount of additional programme management capacity funding (£200,000) was expected for 2025/2026 to help the Board rescope additional engagement as required, undertake preparation work, and potentially look at other measures. The Chair advised that discussions were ongoing on how this money could be spent to support the priorities from recent engagement, which would be reported back to the Board. In discussion there was the suggestion that some of this capacity funding may be used to support existing events and safety concerns in the town centre.

James Blamires, Projects Officer, Town Centre Regeneration Team gave an update on recent additional engagement carried out with young people in Dewsbury, which had been commissioned by the Board following a review of responses to previous engagement. This included a targeted social media campaigns by Counter Context, and in-person engagement events. Over 100 young people, aged 10 to late twenties had been consulted, in a range of educational settings, to gather their views. It was found that young people felt passionately about the town centre and wanted to make positive change

In summing up, James Blamires concluded that the priorities of young people were consistent with the wider engagement sessions and aligned with the priorities from previous engagement activities. There were also some new ideas from young people in terms of what they wanted for the future, such as affordable housing, safety & security improvements and supporting homeless people in the town centre more.

During discussion the Board commented on the need for managing the messaging around the pause in funding, and the need to target the capacity funding in ways which would be visible and which responded directly to issues raised during the engagement. It was suggested that an update on disused buildings and the perception of safety in the town centre, be brought to the next meeting.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the Long-Term Plan update be noted.

2)    That an update on opportunities associated Dewsbury’s disused buildings and multi-disciplinary enforcement be presented at the next Board meeting.

To receive updates on the following projects:

· Sustainable Transport Modes

· Arcade

· Market

· Daisy Hill

· Town Park – Public Realm

· Building Grant Revival Scheme

· Kirklees Build

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

              Andy Raleigh, Economic Resilience Manager.

RESOLVED:

That the Project Update be noted.

The Chair referred to the nine project schemes that had been part of the Town Deal, and invited Board Members for comment on each project.

Ms Rose, Kirklees College, invited Board Members to visit the construction skills village to see their progress. The dates of the invitation were 16^th December or 15^th January.

During questions and answers, it was stated that:

·       The outcome of the planning application for the Market was due in the next few weeks.

·       Signage detailing plans for the Market would be considered, with options given at the next meeting by the Communications Team.

·       A mop-up session was planned for Members who were unavailable to attend the Board member market workshop. Dates would be emailed to all Board Members.

Andy Raleigh, Kirklees Town Centre Programme Manager, advised the Board that the Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO) on the Corporation Street junction would now be in place before Christmas and joint working between Kirklees Build and the Arcade was planned in December, with students experiencing the live building project.

The Board noted that optioneering on 27, Market Place, the disused building next to the Arcade, had been completed. The next step was to understand whether the funding could be used for the building revival and to discuss options with Richard Thorpe and his team. This would then be shared with the Board to consider options to acquire the building to improve the offer of the Arcade and mitigate the risk of having a deteriorating building next to it. The Board agreed that the work on this should continue.

RESOLVED:

That the Project Update be noted.

To discuss any other business.

RESOLVED –

That there were no other business items.

RESOLVED –

That there were no other business items.

06^th February 2025.

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

6^th February 2025

Location: Dewsbury Town Hall

6^th February 2025

Location: Dewsbury Town Hall