Agenda, decisions and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

The Portfolio Holder is asked to sign the minutes of the meeting held on 26 March 2015 as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 26 March 2015 were agreed as a correct record.

The Economic Development Portfolio Holder

(a)            approved the continued participation in ‘Visit Cambridge and Beyond’, moving from a Service Level Agreement (SLA) to that of a strategic partner in the forming Destination Management Organisation (DMO); and

(b)            noted the expenditure in paragraph 24 of the report from the Planning and New Communities Director, resulting in future savings for South Cambridgeshire District Council.

The Economic Development Portfolio Holder considered a report setting out progress in the development of a new tourism model for Cambridge, South Cambridgeshire and the surrounding area through the formation of a Destination Management Organisation (DMO).  

The Portfolio Holder noted that the document was consistent with government guidelines, and was intended to reduce costs while ensuring positive and sustainable progress. The Development Officer (Principal Lead: Economic Development and Tourism) said that the principal objective was to develop a financially sustainable model for tourism, safeguarding the tourism sector as an important contributor to the local economy.  The Officer said that it is also key to ensuring that a tourism service is equipped to respond to the challenges and opportunities from growth, including that of leisure- and business tourism[KN1] .  In terms of leisure, for instance, it would be to locally maximise the number of people visiting South Cambridgeshire, and the length of their stay, by concentrating on the quality and value of visitor attractions, as opposed to the volume. The Portfolio Holder agreed and stressed the importance of catering for so-called business tourism, arising from conferencing and businesses invested in the area. He welcomed an idea from Councillor Bridget Smith that he consider options for staging a workshop promoting bed-and-breakfast establishments along the lines of the recent, successful promotion of village pubs. It was highlighted that members of ‘Visit Cambridge’ (including those who are pubs) automatically receive this training from the Tourism Service. 

The Economic Development Portfolio Holder

(a)            approved the continued participation in ‘Visit Cambridge and Beyond’, moving from a Service Level Agreement (SLA) to that of a strategic partner in the forming Destination Management Organisation (DMO); and

(b)            noted the expenditure in paragraph 24 of the report from the Planning and New Communities Director, resulting in future savings for South Cambridgeshire District Council.

The Economic Development Portfolio Holder received and noted a report updating him about Economic Development Service delivery during the past six months, and highlighting future planned economic activity for the 2015-16 service period.

With regard to the “Connecting Cambridgeshire” programme for rolling out super-fast broadband, Councillor Dr. Tumi Hawkins highlighted a number of anomalies where only part of a village had access to such infrastructure. The Portfolio Holder agreed to investigate, and asked officers to contact Parishes in the first instance in an effort to establish the extent of the anomaly. Local Members should then be consulted in case they could provide any more relevant information. Councillor Dr. Hawkins was very keen not to see areas disadvantaged simply because they were “hard to reach”.

The Principal Lead Economic Development and Tourism  gave feedback on the Business Support workshop programme, which had been successful and well received and contained both face to face workshops and  workshops and webinars.  A discussion took place comparing and contrasting which mode was used.  Those delivered were done so following a detailed survey of businesses about format. 

The Director of Health and Environmental Services informed those present that the Authority was now able to provide regulatory business advice to anyone in the United Kingdom on a cost recovery basis.

Councillor Smith raised the following issues to be carried forward, namely

·       Affordable business space

·       The issue of key worker housing, and whether such accommodation was subject to the Right To Buy

Councillor Smith welcomed the fact that Economic Development was now embedded in the planning process and the need for an Economic Development Strategy or Action Plan beyond 2015. 

 The Economic Development Portfolio Holder received and noted a report introducing a protocol for the administration of Assets of Community Value, including the Council’s statutory duties and responsibilities.

The Development Officer responsible for Community Right to Bid said that the legislation sought to save the community value of the asset but not necessarily the original service or benefit of the asset itself. Nevertheless, it gave the community the opportunity to bid for the original asset.

The Sustainable Communities and Partnerships Manager updated those present about progress with Article 4 Directions. She referred to the General Permitted Development (Amendment) (England) Order 2015, introduced on 6 April 2015. The effect of this Order was to remove permitted development rights, for a period of five years after the date of listing, from those pubs listed as Assets of Community Value. She pointed out though that not all those pubs identified during public consultation as candidates for Article 4 directions were currently listed as Assets of Community Value. Relevant parish councils had been informed therefore about the new Order so that they could further consider the issue. While Article 4 directions remained an option, work was needed to assess which pubs would qualify.

The Economic Development Portfolio Holder received and noted a report updating him about a range of issues and actions surrounding the Council’s services in relation to Gypsy and Traveller community in the District.

Those present spent some time discussing progress in filling the two new officer posts responsible for Gypsy and Traveller issues. The overall message was concern that the funds allocated by the Finance and Staffing Portfolio Holder should be used as originally intended, and that the extra resource promised to Planning and New Communities should not be diminished in any way.

Those present discussed the nature of the Co-ordinating Group. They noted that this was an officer group, but asked that Members be given a monitoring role and that advantage be taken of local Members’ knowledge and expertise.

To consider any items for inclusion in the Portfolio Holder’s Work Programme.

The Economic Development Portfolio Holder requested that reports be presented to his next meeting on the subjects of Heritage sites and the Business Support Programme.

The next meeting will take place on Wednesday 9 September at 2pm.

The next scheduled Economic Development Portfolio Holder meeting would take place on Wednesday 9 September 2015, starting at 2.00pm.