In addition to any announcements made at the meeting, please see Paper BC/19/11 attached, detailing events attended by the Chair and Vice-Chair.
Minutes:
4.1 The Chair referred to paper BC/19/11, which was for noting. She reminded Members that the next Council Meeting on 24 September 2019 was moved to 6:00pm. She then invited the Leader to make his announcements.
4.2 The Leader outlined the following:
Grimsey Review Study Tour to Roeselare
The Leader went on a two-day DCN study tour to Roeselare in Belgium at the end of June.
Roeselare had implemented many of the recommendations in the 2013 Grimsey Review: An Alternative Future for the High Street and he learned how they went about this, what they have achieved so far and the lessons they have learned.
Some of the main achievements so far were:
1. Changed the library into a knowledge centre, including pop-up space for micro businesses.
2. Converted city centre parking in main squares to green space, with children’s play areas.
3. Revitalised side streets and alleys.
4. Working with landlords to bring empty units back into use – this has been controversial, because it is backed up with an empty property tax, but it has worked.
5. Empty units used to enable start-ups to rent space on a pop-up basis – low rent and tax for a year – and assistance if the venture is going to be a long-term success.
6. Other retail successes have been mixed mode stores, different uses in day and evening, increased town centre residential accommodation.
7. Restriction of out of town retail.
8. New charging policy for parking, including free 30 minutes.
9. Free Wi-Fi; city app showing available parking, discounts, other info.
10. Single brand for the town.
In the past two years, about 30 to 40 new shops have opened. Some have been short-term pop-ups, but many were permanent lettings. There has been a significant reduction in vacancy rates.
They have experienced a real, quantifiable increase in town centre business and, although it is a bigger town, many of the things they have done would also work in Sudbury (and for that matter, Stowmarket too) and gave him a lot of ideas for real projects of our own.
Future High Streets Fund
Along with the other Leaders in the county, the Leader was disappointed that nowhere in Suffolk received Future High Street Funding in the first round of bidding. Some of the towns that were successful were surprising in the least. However, he remained committed to our high streets and wanted to see some projects underway in Sudbury in particular soon. He was pleased that the Vision for Prosperity work for Eye, Hadleigh and Needham Market had been well-received by the public.
Joint Local Plan Consultation
It was great news that the consultation period for the Joint Local Plan Preferred Options was launched on the 22 June 2019 and would close at 4pm on Monday 30th September. Please encourage their town and parish councils and residents to get involved and have their say on the proposals.
Five Year Land Supply
The Leader was also very pleased at the recent announcement that both Babergh and Mid Suffolk have regained their five-year housing land supplies in the recent annual position statements. This was only a draft position while a four-week consultation was undertaken. However, the provisional number of 5.78 years, including a 5% buffer, was very encouraging.
Bin Collection Round Changes
Last week saw the start of major changes to the Council’s bin collections, affecting approximately 70% of residents. There were the inevitable teething problems, but the Leader could report in the first week in Babergh, out of approximately 40,000 collections last week, only have 77 outstanding missed bins.
There was a particular problem in Shotley, which was the result of an overzealous refuse collector coming for bins 2 days early. This was completely resolved by the end of the week.
The Leader asked that Members reiterate the message to residents that this would take a week or two to settle down and to report any issues in the normal way so that they could be resolved.
Free Swimming
The Leader was sure that all members had seen the recent communication about free swimming for children at the Council’s leisure centres throughout the six-week summer holiday. This was an excellent example of how the Council can and do get things done quickly. This was done in less than four weeks from the initial suggestion by the Cabinet Member for Communities, through discussions with Abbeycroft Leisure, to the formal announcement two weeks ago. He would like to take this opportunity to thank Councillor Davis, Jonathan Stephenson, Cassandra Clements and Abbeycroft Leisure for working so quickly to implement this.
The Leader requested that members communicated their towns and parishes so that all children know about it and can take advantage of it over the summer.
Other Community Initiatives
Finally, a brief mention of two other community initiatives: the recently announced Active Schools programme involving 20 primary schools in Babergh and Mid Suffolk, and the Silk Stories Project in Sudbury.
Supporting documents: