Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Becky Hunter.

Bruce Hunter attended the meeting as a substitute for Becky Hunter.

Members are requested to declare the existence and nature of any disclosable pecuniary interests and/or other interests, not already on their register of interests, in any item on the agenda and withdraw from the meeting at the appropriate time.

There were no interests declared at this meeting.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the Clay Cross Town Board held on 29 September 2023.

Andrew King clarified that under the resolutions for the Town Regeneration Planning Application at Minute: CXTB/21/23-24, it had also been resolved to amend the extension of the former Sunday School building. He highlighted that under the planning application, Block A had remained as drawn in the previous drawing.

Officers responded that after meetings had taken place with architects and planners, the height of the building had remained largely the same as when alternative options were explored with planners, another technical solution was not available. They informed Board that as such, the extension had been amended but not severely as to impact on the number of floors.

Andrew King moved the Minutes as a true record.

Lee Rowley MP expressed his belief that the minutes did not accurately reflect what had taken place at the meeting and requested that this and future meetings be recorded.

Town Deal Board held a vote and agreed to record the remainder of the meeting.

Board agreed that the Minutes were a true and accurate record.

RESOLVED – That the Minutes of the Clay Cross Town Deal Board held on Friday 29 September 2023 be noted.

Report of the Partnership Development Officer.

The Board received a programme update on all of the Clay Cross Town Deal projects to date. They heard that key milestones were progressing well and that the budget and the work plan would be closely monitored.

Members were informed that the project remained on target for programme spend and that a vast majority of this was attributed to Sharley Park.

Town Deal Board heard that planning for the main scheme of the Town Centre Regeneration had been agreed and that there was still a strong interest in the business units at the Broadley site. Members were informed that the outputs of this scheme would be monitored as they began to be delivered.

The Officer explained that five applications had been approved, totalling £51.5k for the Low Carbon Challenge Fund, primarily focussed on solar panels. The programme had also received five expressions of interest and two exemplar projects with a combined potential value of £340k. Energy audits were carried out using the UK Shared Prosperity Fund which may identify energy saving interventions for businesses in Clay Cross. Further updates on the programme would be brought to Board.

Andrew King drew attention to and applauded the condition 43 of the planning application which imposed on the Highways Authority to implement the Travel Plan approved in June 2023 and to monitor this in accordance with the regime contained within the Plan.

RESOLVED – That Board noted the Clay Cross Town Deal Programme Update.

Presentation from Assistant Director of Leisure.

Town Board received a progress update on the Clay Cross Active Project. They heard that good progress had been made to date and that 99% of the steel frame was in place. Members also heard that there was a good relationship with the contractor and design team.

Town Board were made aware that the project had been delayed by 7.2 weeks due to the discovery of asbestos as well as issues around the sports hall structure. The aim would be to open the facility towards the middle or end of December 2024 pending no further unexpected delays.

Members were made aware that the 3G pitch-works had gone out for tender and the planning application would be expected in early 2024. The funding partner, The Football Foundation, was due to make its funding decision in the summer of 2024. Members heard that the indications were positive that funding would be granted with an expected date to start the works at the end of October or start of November 2024.

Board heard that the financial spend on the project to date was just over £8 million.

Members were informed on the main tasks for the project throughout December as well as the expected risks. The risks included: DNO (District Network Operator providing power to the substation), demo and asbestos, weather, and intumescent spray during winter.

It was explained that the contingency budget remained tight due to delays and asbestos as outlined above. An additional £250k had been applied for from Sport England to de-risk the project and ensure key community elements (e.g. swimming timing) were not value engineered out of the scheme. A condition to the additional grant would be that NEDDC would be required to underwrite any further additional costs on the CCA project.

Members were made aware of a major risk on the DNO not providing a timescale to complete the enabling works.

Town Board congratulated the Officers on the progress that had been made to date.

Cllr A Dale enquired as to whether work on soft play and tag active could be completed alongside the other works instead of after the handover period. He also asked about the need to close the leisure centre for a period of 10 months and what impact this would have on the project overall.

He heard that the soft play and tag active work would be twin tracked alongside the main works if possible.

It was also explained that the closure period for the leisure centre was driven by the contractor as intrusive asbestos work could not take place with people within the building.

Board learned that during the closure period, residents would be encouraged to use other sites where possible and that sports clubs would still be supported during this time. Additional measures put in place during this period would include increased opening hours at other pools and the continuation of fitness classes and swimming lessons. The Council would be working closely with Chesterfield Borough Council in order to deliver lessons at  ...  view the full minutes text for item CXTB/29/22-23

Town Deal Board considered that it would be worthwhile to hold a refresher session on the roles and responsibilities of Board Members.

Members discussed the need for regular attendance of all Board Members where possible and heard that discussions on attendance would be held with external organisations represented on the Board.

RESOLVED – The Director of Finance & Resources would contact DLUCH with a view to arranging a refresh session on Board Governance including roles and responsibilities.

The Chair to move:-

That the public be excluded from the meeting during the discussion of the following items of business to avoid the disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3, Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, (as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006).

Lee Rowley MP and Cllrs C Cupit and A Dale argued against moving into exempt session. They were informed that advice had been taken from the Monitoring Officer that there were commercial sensitivities around an asset negotiation and it would not be appropriate to hold these discussions in an open session.

The Board noted the reasons for the exemption and took the decision to hold the remainder of the meeting in closed session.

RESOLVED – That the public be excluded from the meeting during the discussion of the following items of business to avoid the disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3, Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, (as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006).

Report of the Assistant Director Regeneration, Programmes & Siro.

Town Deal Board were presented with the options for town centre car parking directly accessible from the A61.

Members discussed the proposed options at length before taking a vote on the preferred approach.

RESOLVED – That:

1.     A stand-alone Planning Application for the car park entrance directly accessible from the A61 within the Masterplan, shown as Option 1 in the papers, be submitted to Planning Committee.

2.     The Accountable Body to pursue discussions on the potential acquisition of the identified site stated in Option 2 in the papers and to return to Board to discuss the viable options once costs are known.

Members received a brief positive update from the Town Centre Regeneration Manager on the procurement process (ICT) and general progress and heard that the project was in a good place.

The next meeting of the Clay Cross Town Deal Board will be held on 22 March 2024 at 10.00 am at the District Council Offices.

The next meeting of the Clay Cross Town Deal Board will be held on 22 March 2024 at 10.00 am.