Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies were received from the following members of the panel

Cllr Zahid Shah

Cllr Payal Bedi

There were no declarations of interest recorded

[To approve the minutes of the previous meeting as a correct record.]

The minutes of the meeting of 2.12.14 were approved and signed by the Chair

There were no matters arising from the minutes.

[Keren Jones will give a powerpoint presentation on regeneration work and a review of achievements over the last 12 months.]

Keren Jones, Service Director, City Economy, gave a brief overview of the background to the presentation and the areas to be covered. The information would also provide preparation to the planned site visits to Southside and Westside Developments to see the regeneration work.

This included a brief overview of the city wide economic context and the skills context.  The Service Director City Economy commented that the presentation would not cover the issue of low skills and the labour market, as this will be part of a separate report on from the Council’s Skills and Employment Scrutiny review and the planned work of the Skills Commission. The Service Director commented that recent statistics showed improvements in youth unemployment based on JSA rates.

The Head of Physical Development commented the existing clusters of business already located on the i54 site and the potential opportunities for expansion, the completed transport and infrastructure works around the site and the potential to develop the area to the west.  The Head of Physical Development commented that public transport access to i54 has been improved but we are looking at improving access by public transport.

Head of Physical Development commented on the Bilston centre regeneration and the discussions with developers and about proposals to improve transport links to the centre from Bilston Urban Village. The Head of Physical Development listed a range of work being done to deliver a viable scheme for development in the area, but acknowledged that ground conditions that include some contaminated land is an issue and the role of the Council is to remove these externalities to facilitate the delivery of viable development and create confidence in the area that will bring forward development and lead to an uplift in land values. The Head of Physical Development outlined a programme of work to allow developments to go ahead on the site as part of an investment in proposals being developed for the wider regeneration of Bilston centre.

The Head of Physical Development commented that funding from the Council, the Local Growth Fund, and HCA will bring 40 hectares of land back into use that will act as catalyst to regenerate the city centre.

The Head of Physical Development outlined progress in delivering the regeneration of Wolverhampton City Centre and  the major strategic projects planned for the Westside and Southside and the important role of businesses such as Marston’s and Wolverhampton University in investing and contributing to the regeneration of  the city.

Head of Physical Development commented on the impact of lack of Grade A office accommodations which made it difficult to break the cycle of low rental values against the cost of construction. The Council intervened to break this cycle and invested in i10.

The panel expressed concern that the presentation did not highlight the value and strength of the city’s cultural and entertainment offer suggested that it should be more prominent feature. The Service Director explained the reasons for presenting the information, but accepted the importance of capturing this fully in the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.