Agenda item

(To receive a report from Justin Brown, Commissioner for Economic Growth, in connection with the final recommendations from the High Street Revitalisation Working Group)

Consideration was given to a report which updated the Committee on the recommendations made by the High Street Vitality Working Group. The recommendations identified ways that the County Council could support businesses and others in the transition that was happening to high streets. The recommendations agreed by the working group were as follows:

1.    Each member of the Working Group volunteered to make a presentation to a District Council about the findings of the working group.

2.    The Working Group recommended that each District Council in Lincolnshire should be encouraged to recognise the importance of a clean, green and accessible environment in all high streets.

3.    The Working Group recommended that the County Council, working with the LEP and Business growth Hub, should create a support programme what helped businesses to understand the future, the changing patterns of consumers, and how to react accordingly.

4.    The Working Group recommended that the County Council, working with local planning authorities, especially during the revisions to local plans, champions a way in which each town in Lincolnshire could complement not compete with its neighbours.

5.    The Working Group recommends that the County Council work with towns to help them find a way that young people (perhaps on a secondment or placement) could lead social media campaigns to encourage visitors and residents to use their market town more.

Members were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         Recommendation 4 was an interesting statement.

·         Did healthy market go hand in hand with a healthy high street? In some cases markets were being negatively impacted by different ways of working such as car boot sales.  Members were advised that in the Terms of Reference it stated that the working group would not be looking at markets, but on this occasion would be concerned only with the built environment – retail, housing and leisure.

·         It had concentrated on bringing high streets into a different level and how they could thrive without having large shops.  It was suggested that some of the buildings on high streets could become residential.

·         There were a lot of empty shops on the high street which were owned by large property funds.  It was suggested whether the county council/district council could increase rates for empty shops to discourage people from keeping them empty.

·         The working group had heard from some expert witnesses including the Managing Director of Banks Long and co, who was the lead agent for the redevelopment of the Cornhill in Lincoln.

·         Residential accommodation on the high street was expected to become more common and there would be regular social events taking place.  People would be living, working and socialising on the High Street, and so some people would no longer need a car and would instead use public transport.

·         Had the working group examined pedestrianisation and what the benefits were to a town.  It was noted that there was a need to look at each place individually as this may not work in every area.  It would need to be part of a package of measures.

·         Each place needed to have its own dialogue about what would work for it.

·         There was a need to look at harmonisation between the County Council and the planning officers.

·         There was no reference to the use of wireless networks as an attraction for people to visit the high street.  However, it was noted that this may have been a key factor in attracting people to the high street 10-15 years ago, but with the role out of 4G, it was thought that town owned wi-fi would become redundant.

RESOLVED

1.    That the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee endorse the recommendations to the Executive Councillor for Economy and Place.

2.    That the Head of Economic Development be tasked with sharing the outcomes of the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee with members of the High Street Vitality Working Group.