Policy and Project Advisory Board - Wednesday, 20th November, 2019 7.00 pm - Agenda and minutes

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on 25^th September, 2019 (copy attached).

The minutes of the meeting held on 25th September, 2019 were approved and signed by the Chairman.  The Board was advised that the strategic aims for the Playground Strategy would be reported to the December Cabinet meeting where the Cabinet would propose the format for the development of the operational plan.

To consider the Head of Economy, Planning and Strategic Housing’s Report No. EPSH1957 (copy attached) which sets out the seven strands of the Aldershot Town Centre Strategy and provides details on the current position and next steps.  The Board are asked to consider three elements of the evidence base and their implications for the Town Centre Strategy.  The elements are:

·      Civic Society vision document

·      Work on independent business uses and consultation carried out by the Rushmoor Leadership group

·      Parking study

The Board received the Head of Economy, Planning and Strategic Housing’s Report No. EPSH1957 which set out the seven strands of the Aldershot Town Centre Strategy and provided details on the current position and next steps.  The Board considered three elements of the evidence base and their implications for the Strategy which were: the Aldershot Civic Society Town Centre Vision; ideas from the Rushmoor Leadership project group to attract and grow independent business uses; and, the Aldershot Parking Study.

The Council had been working with the Aldershot Civic Society and the Aldershot Task Force to shape a longer-term town centre strategy and to enable consultation and engagement with the wider community, including residents and other stakeholders.  As a result of the engagement, the Aldershot Civic Society had drafted a community-led ‘Town Centre Vision’ based around ten key themes:

·      Communicating Aldershot – supporting the physical transformation and looking forward to the future, ideas included a centrally located information centre, a website and phone app.

·      Future Development – providing policy compliant quality affordable housing contributing positively to existing Victorian heritage.

·      Public Realm – a welcoming, accessible and high quality town centre which was easy to move around.

·      Feeling Safe – a town centre with good lighting and alternatives to CCTV to address anti-social behaviour.

·      Transport, access and movement – promoting active use of the town centre, ideas included free short-term parking, removal of street clutter and increased cycle provision.

·      Entertainment, events and activities – creating a sense of pride and ownership and increasing footfall and prosperity of businesses in the town.

·      Facilities and services in town – ideas included moving the library to a town centre location and providing a modern, interactive and family-friendly museum.

·      Retail, restaurants and cafes – providing a unique and independent retail offer and variety of high-quality cafes.

·      Incentives for new businesses – establishing a pathway from ‘pop-up’ to permanent to allow Aldershot to ‘grow its own’.

·      Transition period – drawing up a communications strategy to bring people along on the journey of transformation.

The Board discussed the Aldershot Civic Society’s Town Centre Vision and key themes and broadly agreed with the themes but also suggested some additional areas which could be included.  The Board was advised that the Aldershot Civic Society information was just one piece of work looking at town centre uses and potential future uses which would be considered as part of the strategic development process.  A piece of work had been commissioned to look specifically at future uses for the town centre and that work was expected to be completed by February/March 2020.

Hannah Shuttler, Ally Murdoch and Emma Lamb, Rushmoor officers participating in the Rushmoor Leadership Programme, presented the outcomes from the work they had carried out, looking at how the vibrancy of the town centre could be developed by attracting and growing independent business uses.  The project had three stages: creating a knowledge baseline; evaluating potential opportunities; and, developing ideas to form recommendations.  The Group identified a number of ideas and developed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

To consider the Council’s draft Procurement Strategy 2019-2023 which sets out the Council’s vision for procurement and the priorities for the next four years.  The Board are asked to recommend the strategic procurement aims as set out in the draft strategy to be submitted to the Cabinet in December.

The Board considered the Council’s draft Procurement Strategy 2019-2023 which set out the Council’s vision for procurement and the priorities for the next four years.  The vision for the Procurement Strategy was to demonstrate value for money through the effective procurement of goods, services and works on a whole life basis in terms of generating benefits to the community and the organisation, whilst minimising impacts to the environment. 

The Procurement Strategy would link to the Council Business Plan, the ICE Programme and existing policies.  The strategic aims were set out in the draft Strategy which included:

·      the need to innovate, generate savings and opportunities for income generation;

·      transform and modernise the way services were delivered by creating commercial opportunities, managing contracts and supplier relationships and risk management;

·      demonstrate political and senior officer leadership of procurement; and,

·      manage spend effectively by bringing social, environmental and economic advantages to the community. 

The Board discussed the Strategy and proposed that reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions and delivering social value should be included within the aims of the Strategy.  The Board also suggested exploration of joint procurement and collaborative working should also be included.  The draft Procurement Strategy would be considered by the Cabinet in December 2019 and the final version should be available for comment by March 2020. 

To discuss the Policy and Projects Advisory Board Work Programme (copy attached).

The Board NOTED the work programme.  It was requested that the Progress Group meeting be rearranged until after the General Election had taken place on 12th December.