Agenda item

The Chairman introduced the report and set out the key recommendations contained therein.  He emphasised the amount of public consultation that had been undertaken to date and that further engagement would be carried out in October 2018, as summarised in the report.

The Head of Programme outlined the contents of the report in more detail, including drawing Members’ attention to the legal advice contained at Paragraph 3 .  Both he and the Strategic Director: Place responded to Members’ questions as summarised below.

•           The work on the Public Realm Strategy and the preparation of the business case for the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) funding were linked and would run in parallel.  The LEP requirements focussed on the economic regeneration of the Carfax area and provision of an enhanced gateway into Winchester, with initial discussions indicating there was flexibility regarding specific design of the area.

•           The Head of Programme advised that the Corporate Head of Asset Management was working to keep the Chamber of Commerce and potentially interested firms up to date with progress.  Between five and ten firms had expressed an interest in being located at the development.  In general, he emphasised that there was a substantial shortage of Grade A office space in Winchester and further details would be presented to the next meeting of the Committee in October.

•           The Public Realm Strategy considered the interconnectivity of the Carfax site with the wider area, although at the initial stages it would focus on the Station Hill and Station Road areas primarily.  In developing the Public Realm Strategy, Officers were working closely with the County Council to ensure proposals accorded with those being developed through the Movement Strategy.

•           One Member raised concerns about the risk assessment (contained as Appendix 2 to the report) which scored some key elements as having a high risk to the Council.  The Strategic Director: Place emphasised that following the risk control measures suggested,  the residual risk column went on to score these risks as unlikely.

•           With regard to the importance of seeking agreement with both Network Rail and the County Council (as major landowners in the area), the Head of Programme highlighted that there were incentives for both organisations in terms of the prospect of LEP funding for improvements to the area.

•           The £225,000 requested to progress the Public Realm proposals for Station Approach  would be focussed on the area immediately adjacent to the Station, ie Station Hill and Station Road, and could be used for other improvements eg providing a new crossing point adjacent to the Gladstone St/Sussex St junction at the end of a proposed new pedestrian route running diagonally through the Carfax site, this route to be part of the Carfax scheme.   The longer term aspirations to improve pedestrian and cycling links into the town centre would continue to form part of the wider Public Realm Strategy and would be progressed in the future as more funding became available.  Members commented that it was important that the communication to all Councillors and to the public of the likely timescales for different elements of the proposals was made clear in future consultation.

The Committee agreed to the following for the reasons set out above and outlined in the report.

RESOLVED:

1.         That the public realm strategy be progressed by commissioning Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands and Hampshire County Council Design Engineering Services to undertake the necessary design work to support the Carfax site by taking forward projects focussing on the area of Station Hill and Station Road.

2.         That the existing contract with Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands (LDS) be extended to authorise them to undertake the design work on the public realm strategy as set out in the report and agree the Brief.

3.         That delegated authority be given to the Head of Programme in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Estates to agree the procurement process for the technical design services and to agree terms within an existing Joint Working Agreement framework with the County Council to facilitate this.

4.         That delegated authority be given to the Head of Programme for Station Approach in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Estates to submit to the Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership (the LEP) the Business Case to request the release of £5 million funding currently earmarked for the public realm to support the development of the Carfax site.

5.         That a revenue budget of £225,000 be approved in order to progress the public realm strategy to the design stage prior to obtaining final LEP approval.

6.         That the project plan for the Public Realm proposals at Station Approach be agreed.

7.         That the engagement report in relation to public consultation held in March 2018 be noted and endorsed.

8.         That the update on the Carfax development scheme be noted.