To enable the Portfolio Holder to appoint the Levelling Up Fund / Capital Regeneration Projects Portfolio Holder Working Party.

(a)    To appoint the Levelling Up Fund / Capital Regeneration Projects Portfolio Holder Working Party with the following members:-

Councillors Maurice Alexander, Jayne Chapman BEM, Zoe Fairley, Ivan Henderson, Ian Lennard, Lynda McWilliams, Gary Scott, Adrian Smith and Mark Stephenson.

(b)    That Councillor Ivan Henderson will be the Chairman of the Working Party.

The purpose of the Working Party is to provide an opportunity for Members, on a cross-party basis, to be informed of progress and to share their views with the Portfolio Holder on the two schemes of work (i.e. the Clacton Civic Quarter and the Dovercourt Town Centre Improvement Corridor) which together comprise 5 projects across Clacton and Harwich & Dovercourt.

The projects tie in well with some of the themes in the proposed TDC vision (e.g. “pride in our area and services to residents, raising aspirations and creating opportunities, working with partners to improve quality of life”) and amount to a total planned investment of approximately £37m (comprised of £26m from central government, £8.6m from Essex County Council, £2.29m from TDC and £700k from other sources).

The five projects are as follows (please note that three are to be delivered by Essex County Council and these are denoted below with an asterisk):-

Clacton Civic Quarter

Government notified the Council in January 2023 that it had been successful in its Clacton LUF bid for:-

•           *Clacton Hub:  creation of a brand new skills and learning hub, bringing together the Adult Community Learning centre and the Library, with proposals for the University of Essex’s new Centre for Coastal Communities to join the building.

•           Carnarvon Terrace: delivery of 28 much-needed well-designed new homes, improvements to the existing carpark, and creation of new ‘maker space units’ for retail entrepreneurs.

Dovercourt Town Centre Improvement Corridor

Government notified the Council in January 2023 that its Dovercourt Town Centre Improvement Corridor bid had been unsuccessful for the  LUF, but on 15 March 2023 Government had announced that the bid was successful in a sister fund, the ‘Capital Regeneration Projects’ (CRP). The funding from Government will go towards:-

•           *Kingsway improvements: A major investment into the appearance of Dovercourt Town Centre to improve the visitor experience and support local businesses.

•           *Learning and library project: The Adult Community Learning skills centre will return to Dovercourt town within a refurbished library, increasing the opportunities for residents to benefit from courses locally.

•           Homes in Dovercourt: Demolish an out-of-date multi-storey carpark at Milton Road and build nine new, well-built social homes.

Not to appoint the Working Party and thereby follow the practise whereby the Portfolio Holder reports proposals relating to the Levelling Up Fund and/or the Capital Regeneration Projects directly to Cabinet with no prior cross-party consultation.