Issue - meetings

To receive an update on the Market Towns Programme.

Executive Councillor: S Wakeford

The Cabinet has noted progress on all the projects within the Market Towns Programme and specifically the following:

(a)  The appointment of a contractor to deliver the St Neots Town Centre Improvements (Market Square and adjacent highways/junctions) and commencements of works in October 2023.

(b)  Progression of the Priory Centre improvement project including the appointment of a multi-disciplinary team to develop proposals and support delivery.

(c)  Commencement of delivery of the Huntingdon & St Ives works, including roll out of the Shop Front Improvement Grant scheme.

(d)  Delivery of the Digital Information Screens project in Huntingdon, St Neots, St Ives and Ramsey.

A report by the Regeneration and Housing Delivery Manager was submitted (a copy of which was appended in the Minute Book) providing an update on activity across the strands of the Market Towns Programme for Quarter 2 of 2023/24.

In updating Cabinet on the overall programme, the Executive Councillor for Jobs, Economy and Housing Councillor S Wakeford drew attention to the milestones that had been reached within the St Neots Town Centre Improvements Project which was scheduled for delivery from October 2023, with works in the Market Square starting in January 2024. The Council’s contractors for the Priory Centre had also now established a Building Delivery Group to take the project to construction phase.

In Huntingdon and St Ives, Councillor Wakeford was pleased to report that the Shop Front Grant Scheme had been launched in July and the Council were progressing with Digital wayfaring across the four market towns.

Attention was then drawn to the comments and questions of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Performance and Growth) and the responses which had been provided at their meeting on 4th October 2023.

Cabinet Members representing St Neots outlined their excitement at the imminent works at the Priory Centre and in the town centre and the market square which it was anticipated have significant social, cultural and economic impact for the town. Having acknowledged the loss of disabled parking spaces within the market square, the Executive Councillor explained that efforts had been made to mitigate the impact of this on affected communities, such as widening of parking bays and pavements, and that the wider impact of the town centre improvement works would bring additional accessibility benefits to the town.

Cabinet Members went on to discuss the risk of inflation to the project management of the programme, given the construction industry had seen materials and labour costs significantly increase over the past year. In response to this, Councillor Wakeford outlined the considerable effort made to mitigate this risk through thorough scrutiny and robust governance frameworks.

Whereupon, and having noted expressions of interests from other towns and large villages within the District to form part of future programmes, it was

RESOLVED

To note progress on all the projects within the Market Towns Programme and specifically the following the:

(a)  appointment of a contractor to deliver the St Neots Town Centre Improvements (Market Square and adjacent Highways / junctions) and commencement of works in October 2023);

(b)  progression of the Priory Centre improvement project including the appointment of a multi-disciplinary team to develop proposals and support delivery;

(c)  commencement of delivery of the Huntingdon & St Ives works, including roll out of the Shop Front Improvement Grant scheme.

(d)  Delivery of the Digital Information Screens project in Huntingdon, St Neots, St Ives and Ramsey.