Agenda item

Presentation by Jeremy Williamson, Managing Director – Cheltenham Development Task Force

The Managing Director of the Cheltenham Development Task Force introduced a PowerPoint presentation which highlighted some of the progress, achievements and plans of Civic Pride over the past year, though pointed out that work had only really started in January 2010.

He then talked through the slides of a PowerPoint presentation (Appendix 1).

Some of the key points made in addition to the presentation included;

Context:

A lot of planning and consultation had been undertaken but there was perceived to be a poor delivery record.  As a result of this there was scepticism, especially from the press. 

The last 18 months and the recession had raised the question of whether it was the right time to take projects forward.  But having missed two peaks in the economy and the fact that Cheltenham had not been affected to the same extent as other towns/cities, it was felt that now was the time.

A number of policy changes since May, would affect Gloucestershire and make successes such as the work to St. Pauls hard to replicate to the same degree.

A fresh start:

The funding partners considered a number of models and agreed to go with a fluid approach.  Another success had been securing an independent Chair, Graham Garbutt, who had a wealth of experience.  Partners had funded upfront and this had reduced the impact of the recession on the task force.

The Board was made up of individuals with particular skills and experience.

Business Plan Targets:

The 2010 Business Plan was agreed by the Board in April 2010 and set out the key targets for the Task Force.   This was publicised on the centre page of the Echo and the resounding feedback had been ‘get on with it’. 

The delivery model was flexible, able to respond to changes but with clear priorities. 

The focus of the last month or so had been de-risking, which would maximise any revenue outputs. 

Key Outcomes to Date:

Gloucestershire County Councils contribution was to build a new traffic model, which at a cost of £100k, allowed real time testing and sequences to be changed. 

Ultimately, Cheltenham was not designed for road transport.  The one-way system was creating problems and resulted in a race track.  Brave decisions were required and partners had assessed other authorities approaches and outcomes.

Most of the traffic came from the North of the town but most of the car parks in Cheltenham were located to the East – this needed to be addressed.

North Place and Portland Street had originally been considered for office space, but there was no interest.  It was noted that Cheltenham House where Cheltenham Borough Homes were based, had been actively marketing since 1997 – it had never been at full occupancy in that time.  

There was no alternative, further consultation on the Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) was required.  Fortunately the plan had been publicised beforehand and as a result, the press were kind.

An archaeological evaluation was carried out in October 2010 by an independent company, given the sensitivity of the site.  There was no archaeology and English Heritage had been appeased.

The SPD would go to Council on 13 December 2010 and if agreed, the site would be marketed in January 2011. 

Royal Well and the Municipal Offices:

The hope was to get rid of the racetrack, but this would require funding.  The plan was to use the capital receipt from North Place.

The Municipal Offices were already being used as a joint delivery vehicle, with HRMC now based there.  Work had already started on a complete heritage assessment of the building, to better understand the assets the Council had. 

Again, all risks would be removed in order to increase opportunities. 

Non CBC sites:

There were a number of non CBC sites which offered potential but were struggling to progress given the fact that some developers had overpaid.

Communication:

This was key, the Echo needed to be on board so as to be sympathetic to more difficult communications and promote good communications.  A quarterly update would soon be issued to them. 

Where from here:

North Place and Portland Street would be actively marketed.  There had already been some serious interest from developers, so it could be very positive for Cheltenham. 

Traffic modelling would be pursued but there were some major costs associated with this. Research showed that 14% of traffic in Cheltenham stayed within the town itself average 11% of traffic disappeared when changes were made to the modelling, as people actively change their transportation.  This would require some brave decisions. 

The current context was challenging and showed no signs of easing.  But a solid partnership had been built, despite losing the RDA.  Discussions with other groups were ongoing and current partners were happy that tangible progress was being made.  Momentum needed to be maintained and given the flexibility of the plan this was achievable – where a master plan would not have been in the current climate.

The following responses were given to questions from members of the committee;

• Were North Place to be put on the market in January 2011 and sold, 300 spaces would be retained in Portland Street, the buses would be moved and capacity would be increased at the other end of town.  For 3 weeks whilst the archeological evaluation was being done, 1/3 of the car park was sectioned off at any one time and yet the car park was never full.  There were software issues with the current car parks which meant that only ticket sales could be monitored, rather than spaces. 
• As previously stated, Cheltenham had excess car parks, so the loss of some would not impact visitors.  The key was to provide adequate signage and isolate motorists to the nearest car park.  If they chose not to use the nearest car park they would risk being in slower traffic.
• Cash for other projects needed to come from somewhere, but capital assets would be reused and invested elsewhere.

The Chair thanked the Managing Director of the Cheltenham Development Task Force for his attendance and a comprehensive, exciting and invigorating presentation.