Decision details

Part 3, Schedule 3 - Responsibility for Executive Functions delegated to Officers paragraph 4.3 (1) - the Corporate Director has delegated authority to discharge executive functions within their respective service areas (Part 3.38). All delegations are subject to consultation where considered appropriate in the circumstances (paragraph 4.3 (4(ii) - Part 3.39). The Corporate Director Ewan Green has delegated operational matters relating to this work to the Head of Regeneration.

Dovercourt has suffered from the generic decline in the popularity of English seaside towns and as a consequence of this and other local factors (such as the transformation of working practices at Harwich International Port), the town’s economy has contracted. The condition of the built environment and the quality of the public realm has seen a commensurate decline. Dovercourt High Street has lost its pre-war (WW2) vitality and this is demonstrated by the number of derelict residential and commercial premises that are located in close proximity to the town centre. In 2011 the Council commissioned consultants to prepare a comprehensive Masterplan for Dovercourt Town Centre. The Masterplan sought to rediscover Dovercourt as a thriving seaside town with a vibrant and successful town centre. The proposals sought to create a distinctive place based on heritage, and a shared belief in the future of the town. Whilst there remains broad support for the aims and objectives of Dovercourt Rediscovered, it is evident that market conditions in the town are such that there has been very limited change on the ground in the six years since the Plan was completed. Most of the derelict sites identified in 2011, are in the same poor condition (or worse), and this is thought to be having a detrimental impact on the town. In view of this and in an effort to kick-start the regeneration of Dovercourt, Urban Initiatives Studio Ltd have been appointed (via a competitive process in line with the Council's procurement protocols)to look again at Dovercourt Rediscovered and specifically to reconsider and to reimagine the development opportunities afforded by the Starlings Block and Milton Road Car Park. The focus of the Council’s brief is therefore to test and to reaffirm the design principles, public realm improvements and development objectives set out in Dovercourt Rediscovered, and specifically to identify a productive and symbiotic use for the Starlings Block and Milton Road Car Park.

Work will be managed against an agreed programme comprising four distinct (and sequential) modules. This phased approach will enable the Client Team to manage risk and to control expenditure. The required resources to cover the cost of this work has been identified in the budgets held by the Council's Regeneration, Inward Investment and Growth Service. Consultants have been contracted using the Council's Standard Form of Contract for the Provision of Services.