Agenda and minutes

Venue: The Oculus, Buckinghamshire Council, Gatehouse Road, Aylesbury HP19 8FF. View directions

Contact: Kelly Sutherland 

Media

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Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for Absence/Changes in Membership

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Cllrs Baughan, Etholen, Hogg and Poll. Members noted that Cllr Peter Brazier was attending in place of Cllr Poll.

2.

Declarations of Interest

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were none.

3.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 484 KB

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 9th December 2021 as a correct record.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 9th December were agreed as a correct record.

4.

Public Questions

Public questions is an opportunity for people who live, work or study in Buckinghamshire to put a question to a Select Committee.
The Committee will hear from members of the public who have submitted questions in advance relating to items on the agenda. The Cabinet Member, relevant key partners and responsible officers will be invited to respond.
Further information on how to register can be found here: 
https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/your-council/get-involved-with-council-decisions/select-committees/

 

Mr Chadwick has submitted the following question:

Addressing the decline in town centres through town centre regeneration projects is clearly a good thing. It also provides great opportunities to adapt them and remodel them to create thriving communities, but in a way which also builds in sustainable and low carbon patterns of living – such as active travel, locating services and facilities close to residences to minimise the need for travel, incorporating high energy efficiency standards in any related development, etc. Could the Cabinet Member please provide information and assurances about how town regeneration schemes are and will be developed and refined with these goals in mind?

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Select Committee had received a public question from Mr Chadwick.

 

Addressing the decline in town centres through town centre regeneration projects is clearly a good thing. It also provides great opportunities to adapt them and remodel them to create thriving communities, but in a way which also builds in sustainable and low carbon patterns of living – such as active travel, locating services and facilities close to residences to minimise the need for travel, incorporating high energy efficiency standards in any related development, etc. Could the Cabinet Member please provide information and assurances about how town regeneration schemes are and will be developed and refined with these goals in mind?

 

Cllr Gareth Williams, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration provided a response, making the following main points:

  • The Council is committed to the net zero agenda. We have many policies and targets that respond to our carbon reduction goals.
  • This is well in excess of what Government expects or mandates us to do
  • The Council had already carried out an audit in Environment portfolio with stringent carbon reduction targets
  • For Town Centre regeneration the Council uses national standards and guidance of what makes Places thrive and sustainable, such as guidance from Institute of Place Management - within these standards there is the theme of Environment and Resources, as well as Public Realm, and Movement and Connectivity.
  • They all feature in our Regeneration Framework setting out how best to regenerate our places.
  • All these themes drive the Council towards regenerating in a way that is meeting low carbon patterns of living, therefore our Programme plans reflect this.
  • An example of this is the Garden Way project in Aylesbury which is looking to provide more sustainable connections and routes into the town centre 
  • In High Wycombe the Council ensured that the Brunel Shed build project salvaged as much as possible, the original materials and re used recycled materials and the design brief also had sustainability criteria.

 

 

5.

Digital Infrastructure Update pdf icon PDF 992 KB

The Committee will receive an overview of the current activity related to Broadband connectivity and details of the Government’s new programme to deliver gigabit capable broadband speeds.

 

Contributors:

Cllr Martin Tett, Leader of the Council

Lisa Michelson, Service Director – Economic Growth and Regeneration

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed Cllr Martin Tett, Leader of the Council and Lisa Michelson, Strategic Director – Economic Growth and Regeneration to the meeting.  The Leader provided an overview of the history of broadband development in Buckinghamshire since he became leader of the previous County Council in 2011 and the various government initiatives that had been introduced and then explained the current projects that were underway to improve broadband coverage.  The following main points were noted:

  • The Leader had always seen digital infrastructure as a priority and felt broadband and superfast broadband was an essential utility.  He had lobbied for more action on increasing broadband coverage nationally and alongside the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) had helped to negotiate the first Connected Counties contract with Hertfordshire and BDUK.  Three of the four legacy District Councils in Buckinghamshire participated in the second Connected Counties contract with Hertfordshire and BDUK.
  • The Connected Counties contracts included a gainshare and monies realised from that would be reinvested in new Broadband schemes going forward.  Connected Counties contract 2 in April 2015 also had a gainshare element although it was not quite as generous. Whilst these contracts have helped to achieve 97% coverage in terms of premises across the county, the current demands of zoom calls and streaming films means this infrastructure can sometimes struggle.
  • A new initiative funded by Defra is the Rural Business Broadband Programme.  This aims to support rural businesses to improve their broadband connections from below superfast connectivity (less than 30mb per second) to gigabit (more than 1000mb per second). The Council has a £1.8m contract with BT Openreach which is focussing on ‘white areas’, where there are no commercial delivery plans from suppliers.
  • Covid had led to some delays in delivering the contract but it would connect 620 premises by June 2022.
  • In addition, Government has opened a Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme for residents in rural areas, offering £1500 for residents and up to £3500 for rural businesses to gain gigabit capable broadband, via fibre to the premises. The Council was offering top up funding up to £2000 for residents and up to £3500 for businesses and was encouraging individuals to pool their vouchers and contract in groups. This local top up was making a significant difference in negotiating with commercial suppliers.
  • To date 1767 vouchers had been requested with 500 premises connected out of a target of 2000.  This had been funded by over £3.3m from Government and topped up by almost £1m from the Council.
  • Project Gigabit is the Government’s major drive to support increased coverage for gigabit broadband. Commercial providers had been asked to identify geographical they can supply gigabit capability and then the Government will step in to support the remaining ‘white areas’. This was being driven by Government centrally although local authorities were being asked to provide a local steer. Buckinghamshire is in Lot 26 and an open market review has commenced. BDUK propose to start procurement for this area in Summer 22 and to commence the contract  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy pdf icon PDF 217 KB

The Committee will receive an update on the development of the Council’s Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy. Members will be invited to comment on the priorities that have been identified.

 

Contributors:

Cllr Nick Naylor, Cabinet Member for Housing, Homelessness and Regulatory Services

Cllr Mark Winn, Deputy Cabinet Member for Homelessness

Nigel Dicker, Service Director – Housing and Regulatory Services

Michael Veryard, Head of Housing

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed the Deputy Cabinet Member for Homelessness, Councillor Mark Winn, to the meeting and invited him to introduce the Strategy. The Homelessness Act 2002 required the Council to have a strategy and Buckinghamshire Council’s draft Strategy had been discussed at Cabinet 15 February 2022. A four-week public consultation, including notification to all Community Boards, would follow and amendments to the Strategy would be considered based on the comments. It would then be considered by Full Council in April.

 

The following main points were noted:

 

  • Prior to the pandemic, there were 34 classified rough sleepers in Buckinghamshire; this had now been reduced to 7 with 4 of these having been offered accommodation.
  • The ‘Everyone In’ scheme during the pandemic had given the outreach team the opportunity to engage with clients and assist on their journey to self-support in accommodation.
  • In January 2022, the service carried out 28 interventions to prevent occurrences of rough sleeping.
  • As well as Ardenham House, Aylesbury, there were two government funded support packages: the Next Step Accommodation Programme and the Rough Sleepers Accommodation Programme.
  • The Next Step Accommodation Programme had nine completed units and seven further units had been acquired at Harrow Churches for ‘move on’ accommodation for former rough sleepers.
  • The YMCA, Wycombe, had 11 units under development as part of the Rough Sleepers Accommodation Programme. The Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust (VAHT) would soon be opening seven units in Aylesbury.
  • Support for mental health, training and employment opportunities would be available through projects.
  • One of the challenges identified in the Strategy was relationship breakdown which was often linked to domestic abuse. Mental health and offending history were also contributory factors.
  • In addition the Council was working to support young care leavers in securing and maintaining a tenancy.
  • Early intervention was important and over 2,000 households had approached the service for advice and support in 2020/21. Of these, over 50% of eligible households had successfully been prevented from becoming homeless and around 30% were moved to alternative accommodation.
  • The Deputy Cabinet Member outlined the six main priorities within the Strategy which underpinned the overall vision. Two themes crosscut the Strategy: making best use of resources and partnership working.

 

In response to questions from Select Committee Members, the following points were noted:

 

  • The Deputy Cabinet Member would review follow up on information that had been submitted in response to a question raised in September 2021’s meeting.
  • Benchmarking against other local authorities was difficult due to individual circumstances within each council area. The service would consider finding a suitable local authority that was comparable for benchmarking purposes in the Strategy.
  • A Member briefing on the Strategy would be held in the next month and a Member training session was already scheduled. Members were encouraged to submit their feedback during these sessions.
  • It was clarified that the 28 individuals assisted in January 2022 were at risk of becoming a rough sleeper. The 34 units in development were ‘move on’ accommodation for rough sleepers.
  • Members of the Committee  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

Town Centre Regeneration pdf icon PDF 789 KB

The Committee have heard at previous meetings about activities that the Council has undertaken to support high streets during the pandemic. This report builds further on the Council’s aspirations for the future and the development of a Regeneration Framework for Buckinghamshire. There will be an opportunity for members to ask questions and offer feedback on the direction of travel and specific regeneration projects that have been included in the Council’s capital programme.

 

Contributors:

Cllr Gareth Williams, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration

Cllr Jocelyn Towns, Deputy Cabinet Member for Town Centre Regeneration

Lisa Michelson, Service Director – Economic Growth and Regeneration

Shabnam Ali, Head of Local Economic Growth

Richard Wood, High Street Task Force

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration, Councillor Gareth Williams, and Deputy Cabinet Member for Town Centre Regeneration, Councillor Jocelyn Towns. The Deputy Cabinet Member introduced the report and highlighted the following points:

 

  • Town Centre regeneration in Buckinghamshire needed to consider each individual locality. Work was being carried out to develop shared visions and narratives to see how local places see the future of their town centres taking into account hybrid working and shopping habits.
  • Early indications were that large brands were vacating town centres, thereby leaving large empty spaces. These could be repurposed to meet needs such as homes, culture, leisure and hospitality spaces.
  • The Buckinghamshire Regeneration Framework was being developed which would set out key factors to make town centres successful. This had started in Aylesbury and High Wycombe.

 

Richard Wood, High Street Task Force Ambassador, delivered a presentation to the Select Committee which highlighted the following:

 

  • Regeneration needed to be place-based with a long-term vision that was multi-dimensional.
  • The Cities Outlook 2022 report was an in-depth piece at the state of UK high streets. The report highlighted uncertainty over future working patterns.
  • The vaccine roll out had supported high street footfall recovery with smaller centres recovering more quickly than larger cities and regional centres.
  • High streets were increasingly looking to become multi-functional by combining shopping, employment and culture.
  • The Buckinghamshire Regeneration Framework intended to be an enabling approach to allow local areas and communities to work collaboratively addressing local priorities.

 

In the Committee discussion that followed, the following main points were noted:

 

  • It would be confirmed that the accommodation at the Chilterns, High Wycombe, would be of mixed capacity. Officers would also investigate the re-siting costs for businesses.

Action: L Michelson

  • The Regeneration Framework would work with individual villages, Town and Parish Councils to also meet their needs. The Framework was expected to be finalised by the autumn with a draft coming back to the Committee before then.
  • Some of the capital projects in the report were from legacy council arrangements. The service was investing in better strategy work to consider what regeneration meant outside the larger Buckinghamshire towns. Additionally, a Chesham Regeneration Group had been set up.
  • Accessibility was a consideration with regeneration projects. For instance, the Aylesbury Garden Town Board contained a member representing Buckinghamshire Disability Service (BuDS) with comments fed into planning to meet public needs. Some areas of the county also had devolved services to meet these needs.
  • One Member commented that Community Boards would benefit from having examples shared with them of regeneration initiatives across the UK.
  • The Council was considering identifying some areas which they might want to protect from permitted development. This would maintain a local level of planning control on high streets.

 

The Chairman thanked the Cabinet Member, Deputy Cabinet Member and officers for the report and information.

8.

Member Engagement in Planning report pdf icon PDF 1 MB

The Committee will receive the final report of the Member Engagement in Planning report from the review group, ahead of it being presented to Cabinet on 1st March.

 

Contributors:

Cllr Chris Poll, Chairman of the Review Group

Additional documents:

Minutes:

In the absence of the Inquiry Chairman, Councillor Peter Brazier introduced the Inquiry Report to the Select Committee. The Group had found the review useful, and the report outlined a number of recommendations on Member Engagement in Planning. The Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration advised that Member Surgeries had now commenced and that officers were encouraged to telephone Members more. The Member Handbook and GIS Map training for Members were under consideration.

 

Feedback was noted by the Cabinet Member on streamlining the process of booking a Member Surgery timeslot. Another Member commented that reducing the need for chasing up the Planning service and reducing invalid planning applications would assist service resource.

 

The Chairman thanked all Members for their input into the Inquiry.

9.

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 395 KB

For members to note the Committee Work Programme.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The work programme was noted.

10.

Date of next meeting

7th April 2022 at 10am

Additional documents:

Minutes:

7 April 2022.