Agenda item - Cabinet Members' Items - Report of the Economic Growth, Regeneration & Tourism Portfolio Holder - A.3 - Progress with Town Centre Regeneration through the Clacton Long Term Plan for Towns and Dovercourt High Street Accelerator

The Council is committed to town centre regeneration and has been allocated funding by Government to support a long-term plan for Clacton Town Centre and a pilot high street accelerator project in Harwich and Dovercourt.

This report updates Cabinet on progress and welcomes funding associated with these two schemes and delegates approvals on spending.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a) welcomes and acknowledges receipt of the Grant Determination Letter awarding the second tranche of Long Term Plan for Towns capacity funding in the sum of £200,000 to support the development of the Long-Term Plan, including additional community engagement activity;

(b) allocates up to £30,000 of the funding in (a) above to support community engagement and consultation in support of the development and implementation of Clacton’s Long Term Plan for Towns;

(c) delegates the authorisation of the spending of the remaining Long Term Plan for Towns Capacity Payment of up to £220,000 (as set out in the report) to the Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Regeneration & Tourism following recommendations from the Town Board on how best to use this money, in line with Government’s Guidance, to support the development of their Long-Term Plan;

(d) subject to (c) above, any such decisions will require a report in support explaining the projects and will be made following consultation with the Chief Executive and the Section 151 Officer, taking into account the latter’s responsibility to submit a Statement of Grant Usage and an Assurance Letter to DLUHC;

(e) welcomes and acknowledges year 2 (2024/25) of the High Street Accelerator (HSA) Funding offered by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to the value of £187,000 to support improvement of the town centre in Harwich and Dovercourt;

(f) delegates the authorisation of the spending of that money in (e) above to the Leader of the Council, in consultation with the relevant Portfolio Holder for the specific projects, and the decisions will identify the impact on resources to delivery across the Council;

(g) welcomes and acknowledges receipt of the Grant Determination Letter received 8 May 2024 awarding £500,000 funding (£450,000 Capital, £50,000 Revenue) for the financial year 2024/25 to spend in line with the expression of interest in support improvements to green space in Harwich and Dovercourt; and

(h) delegates the authorisation of the spending of that money in (g) above to the Leader of the Council, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Public Realm; and further delegates entering into a Memorandum of Understanding for this funding to the Corporate Director (Place and Economy), in consultation with the Section 151 Officer.

Earlier on in the meeting as detailed under Minute 4 above, Councillors I J Henderson and M E Stephenson had both declared an Other Registrable Interest in that they had both been appointed to the Clacton Town Board on behalf of the Council. The Monitoring Officer (Lisa Hastings), following the principles within Section 33 of the Localism Act 2011 and in accordance with Paragraph 9.1 and paragraph 6 of Appendix B of the Tendring District Council’s Members Code of Conduct, had decided that it was appropriate for these Cabinet Members appointed to that board to have a dispensation to be able to present the item, take part in the debate and vote on the item.

Cabinet considered a detailed report of the Economic Growth, Regeneration & Tourism Portfolio Holder (A.3), which updated it on progress and welcomed funding associated with the two schemes and which sought delegated approvals on spending.

Cabinet recalled that, at its meeting held on 15 December 2023, it had considered a report titled: Government Funding Opportunities for Tendring. That report had provided further information on the Long Term Plan for Towns Funding and the High Street Accelerator Programme. Those opportunities for the District complemented the ongoing Levelling Up Fund and Capital Regeneration Project schemes in Clacton and Dovercourt, and future potential funding from the Levelling Up Partnership.

Clacton long term plan for towns

The Cabinet had previously approved the acceptance of the £20m Long Term Plan for Town Funding from Government and had delegated entering into agreement with DLUHC to the Corporate Director (Place & Economy) in consultation with the Section 151 Officer, and had delegated the formation of the Clacton Town Board to the Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Regeneration & Tourism, including the appointment of an independent chair. George Kieffer had been chosen as the chair of the Clacton Town Board on 1 March 2024 and the Board had been formed on 15 March 2024 and had held its first meeting on 21 March 2024. Membership of the board was drawn from the Clacton community, business and public sector members including Tendring District Council. Draft Terms of Reference had been approved by the Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Regeneration and Tourism on 15 March 2024 and by the Clacton Town Board on 21 March 2024.

It was reported that the Government had not yet entered into a Memorandum of Understanding, but had asked for the submission of information at the start of April 2024 to demonstrate progress on governance arrangements in advance of the release of the first £200,000 in 2024/25. DLUHC officials had responded positively to the progress made in Clacton in setting up the Board, and the Council had received the Grant Determination letter dated 30th April 2024 confirming that Government would release the £200,000 capacity funding. This was in addition to £50,000 already received. Such funding could be used to support public engagement (for example residents, visitors, community groups, young people and businesses) as well as for the delivery of projects. An indicative budget had been submitted in the April 2024 information return to Government.

Members were informed that the Clacton Town Board, supported by the Council, would now develop a single long term plan to be submitted to the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities by 1 August 2024. In line with Government guidance the plan would identify the measures under the three broad investment themes: safety and security; high streets, heritage and regeneration; and transport and connectivity.

Cabinet was made aware that, given the tight timelines for delivery of the long term plan for towns and the importance of engagement and consultation, the Council would allocate £30,000 of the total £250,000 received to date to fund community engagement with residents in Clacton. This would leave £220,000 to be allocated to further activity. The aim was to find out issues that residents wanted to see tackled in the town, in particular against the fund’s investment themes of safety and security; high street, heritage, and regeneration; and transport and connectivity. The delivery partner for this work would be chosen through a request for quotations. This external support for resident engagement would compliment work with businesses and young people that would be completed by the Council.

High Street Accelerator in Harwich and Dovercourt

Cabinet was aware that the Council had accepted the full £237,000 (£50,000 and £187,000) of High Street Accelerator Funding on 5th March 2024 and that the Corporate Director (Place and Economy) and the Section 151 Officer had approved the Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of the Council on 9th January 2024.

It was reported that the High Street Accelerator Board had been formed and had held its first meeting on 4th March 2024. The Board was chaired by Paul Milsom, (Managing Director at Milsom Hotels and Restaurants). It had representatives from the Harwich and Dovercourt business, community and public sectors, including Councillor Ivan Henderson, Deputy Leader of Tendring District Council and Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Regeneration and Tourism. The Board had approved its Terms of Reference.

Members were informed that the Council had successfully spent the first £50,000 of Accelerator funding for 2023/24 on improvements to Dovercourt high street.

Members were made aware that the national High Street Accelerator Programme included a £5m capital fund. The ten participating councils nationally could apply for a share of up to £500,000 to improve their high streets’ green spaces and to create more pleasant environments for residents to meet and socialise. This Council had submitted an expression of interest on 1st March 2024 and had published a notice of decision by the Deputy Leader of the Council and Economic Growth, Regeneration & Tourism Portfolio Holder on 16 April 2024 ahead of receiving funding. The funding covered:-

- Improved accessibility to the town centre from the beach.

- Improved access from Cliff Park

- High Street and the Queen Victoria statue public realm improvements

- Pocket Spaces

Cabinet was advised that the Government had approved the submission of the expression of interest and had written a letter dated 8 May 2024 offering £500,000 funding (£450,000 capital, £50,000 revenue), which was expected to be spent within this financial year (2024/25). Given the scale of projects currently under way across the Council, and the nature of the works, this represented a high delivery risk. The Council would discuss with Government the feasibility of delivery as part of the Memorandum of Understanding.

It was pointed out that there had been a rapid increase in the scale of capital allocations to the Council by Government against very tight spend timescales. The Council recognised that it might have to return some or all of the funding earmarked and not complete projects if:-

1) the conditions imposed by Government required completion to undeliverable timelines; or

2) the Council could not spend Government funding on the project within agreed deadlines, and so would have to allocate its own funding to the project instead; and / or

3) the Council’s capacity was overstretched and it was unable to utilise external resources.

Officers were exploring options to ensure the necessary capacity for delivery would come in to the Authority and would report to Cabinet on progress.

It was recognised that the Council was committed to building pride in the District, championing the local environment, and promoting local heritage. The funding provided by Government under the Long Term Plan for Towns and High Street Accelerator would support the Council to implement its priorities in Clacton and Harwich. The Council had agreed in March 2024 to take forward the Long Term Plan for Towns and the High Street Accelerator in its highlight priorities for 2024-25. The planned physical improvements and regeneration initiatives in Clacton and Harwich were ready to bring substantial benefits not only to their residents but also to visitors from across the District and beyond. Community engagement and consultation was a key part of the Long Term Plan for Towns, and so allocating funding to this activity supported the delivery of the programme to the timelines required by Government.

It was moved by Councillor I J Henderson, seconded by Councillor M E Stephensonand:-