Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Celia Hibbert and

Cllr Iqra Tahir.

Cllr Jennifer Cockayne substituted for Cllr Iqra Tahir.

There were no declarations of interest.

Resolved: That the minutes for the meeting held on the 27 June 2023 be approved as a correct record. 

[Ian Fegan to deliver Report to the Panel]

The Member for Visitor Economy raised the relevance of events in the City and explained how they benefitted the City’s economy, culture & social well being.  Further work was being done to further add to the City events.

The Director of Vibrant City began the presentation (a copy of which is attached to the signed minutes) by linking up the Event plan to the wider City Objectives and Strategies. He displayed a video to the Panel which showed the diverse nature of events that occurred in the City from 2022 up until the day of presentation. These included the Commonwealth games, music events, religious cultural events and Wolverhampton Pride. He confirmed to the Panel that the visitor economy had returned to pre-pandemic levels with the City hosting over 1000 events in the past year, of which the Wolverhampton Wanderers football team, The Grand Theatre, the newly re-opened Halls (formerly known as the Civic Hall) and the racecourse were highlighted for the large number of visitors they brought to the City.

The Director of Vibrant City highlighted the Council’s contributions through investment into arts, culture and City events. He stressed the importance of events, as well as the complexity and cost in working towards these events. He said partnership working was extremely important as it could not be a “Council fixes all” approach. He discussed the “events ecology” of the City, which looked at the City’s role in international, national and regional event hosting.  Focus on better communications/advertisement with customers as well as enabling easy transport access to the City were key areas for strategy highlighted.  Working with partners to increase the City’s customer retainment through improving the City’s infrastructure, transport, hotel availability were emphasised. Visitor numbers 2022 showed 92% percent of the City’s visitors were day visitors so there was a desire to increase those staying over night. He informed the Panel of opportunities available for the next 3 years, these included secured grant funds from: the Towns Fund, The United Kingdom Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), Arts council NPO funding and the Arts Council Uplift fund.

The Chair thanked the Director of Vibrant City and informed the Panel that a Task & Finish Scrutiny Review Group would be occurring in the near future on the City night time economy.

A Panel member praised the report and celebrated the cultural diversity of Wolverhampton and the events reflecting that. She was pleased at the job creation from these events.

A Councillor expressed praise for the report but added a general criticism/observation that he felt the voluntary sector needed more support and promotion. He discussed his own volunteer work with a local Canal Club and talked at length about the canals Wolverhampton had to offer. He argued that these areas were hidden contributors to the economy, as people travelling in canals for leisure would set up near the City whilst passing through and spend money. He recited figures about the Canal Festival, its success and mentioned this should have been mentioned in the report also.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

[Richard Lawrence to Present to the Panel]

The Director of Regeneration opened the presentation (a copy of which is attached to the signed minutes) by introducing the National Brownfield Institute (NBI) which, located in Wolverhampton, was a research centre which aimed to develop modern methods of building.  It focused on utilising and repurposing brownfield sites. It was a part of the Council’s “Green Innovation Corridor” and worked in partnership with the University of Wolverhampton. General information about its year long history was covered.  The Green Innovation Corridor was part of a broader regional strategy, developed in partnership with the West Midlands Combined Authority and its member Councils. As part of a National Government policy to create Investment Zones which had investment and tax schemes to attract business, Wolverhampton’s Green Innovation corridor was a non-taxed site.  The Director of Regeneration informed the Panel that there were plans to open up New Commercial Floorspace at the Springfield Campus site which would aid the strategy of providing opportunities for businesses and growth in the City as part of the Green Innovation Corridor. An announcement around the Investment Zones from Government was due to be delivered in Autumn 2023.

A Councillor stated he felt the NBI was putting Wolverhampton on the map and helping it become a centre for excellence when it came to developing modern construction methods.

A Councillor asked the Director of Regeneration to talk to the Panel about the connectivity to the sites for pedestrians and cyclists, as they felt it was a challenge to get across Stafford Street and the Ring Road to the site. She felt it was important to move society away from car reliance and wanted to know what was being done to enable people to take alternative methods of transport around the City.

The Director of Regeneration explained that changes to the transport infrastructure were part of a longer term plan and would be dependent upon the investment attracted into the area.

[Richard Lawrence to Present to the Panel]

The Director of Regeneration began the presentation (a copy is attached to the signed minutes) with a chronology of the Heath Town Baths development. A grade 2 listed building opened in 1933, it closed in 2006 and had been left derelict; it had been subject to anti-social behaviour such as deliberate arson. A procurement exercise was initiated by the Council to hire an private advisor to under-take a strategic marketing review to find a special purchaser for the site. After several bids, Gaddu Associates were the approved bidder by Cabinet in 2017 to develop the site in consultation with the Council. The proposal by Gaddu associates was the re-development of the Heath Town Baths site, developed in consultation with Historic England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, to provide nursery space, training and conference rooms, business start up spaces and community function rooms. A Skills and Employment Plan had been agreed and worked on by the Council’s Wolves At Work team which would support the site. Gaddu Associates had ran public consultation events alongside the Council in 2022 to help recover momentum lost from the Covid-19 lock down period. An overwhelming response was recorded by the local Heath Town population. The planning application was approved in January 2023 by the Cabinet. The Council and Gaddu Associates aimed to enter into a longlease by Autumn 2023, which would last for a 125 year term. Once the lease was affected, the responsibility for the site would be on Gaddu Associates.  Legal work was on going to enable the long-lease to be agreed. He informed the Panel that if Gaddu Associates did not gain access to the National Lottery Heritage Fund, they had agreed to still fund the project but on a longer timescale to completion.

A Councillor quoted the Presentation and what uses the new scheme would be aimed at. She wanted to know what activities it would provide for young people.

The Director of Regeneration answered that Gaddu Associates had set out what their uses for the site were on the basis of proving what would be economically viable. He believed opportunities for young people would be in gaining employment and skills from the site and that uses of the building such as function rooms may provide a space for young people should businesses choose to cater to that age group.

Discussion occurred between Councillors and Officers about the legal sensitivity of the topic. The Chief Operating Officer advised they would allow as much as possible to be in the public sphere but where sensitivities arose, these may need to be answered in a private sphere.

The Vice-Chair stated that the situation between 2017, when Gaddu Associates were first given the greenlight for the project, and 2023 were quite different. He said that Avison Young had commissioned a report on the site and had approached someone to give estimates on bringing the Heath Town baths back into use. He had given a vastly different quote to the quote Gaddu Associates had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The date of the next meeting was confirmed as the 29 November 2023.