Councillor Lowry (Cabinet Member for Finance) introduced the item the highlighted the following points:

a)     It had been 10 years since the Council had left the Civic Centre and relocated to Ballard House, during which time work had been underway with Urban Splash to find a way to bring the listed building back into use;

b)    Urban Splash had secured the planning consent for the conversion and reuse of the Civic Centre for apartments, which aligned to the Council’s vision to build 5000 new homes in the city centre;

c)     The Civic Centre opened in 1962 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II;

d)    In 2021, the estimated cost of the development of the 114 new homes in the Civic Centre was £35 million, but due to inflation the current budget estimate was over £50 million, which meant a further £10 million of High Street Finding for the regeneration would be used for this project;

e)     The Council had secured a further £8.5 million Levelling Up Grant for the regeneration of the Civic Centre which meant the regeneration was now largely a public sector funded project, meaning it was appropriate for the Council to recover the building from the current owners and take on the works;

f)      The Council would now oversee the project and had appointed a consultancy team;

g)     Concrete stabilisation works would commence shortly and needed to be complete by March 2025;

h)    The funding for the external renovation works would, in part, be met by funding secured and income generated from the new leave and the car park;

i)      A report would be brought to Cabinet in Autumn 2024, clarifying the programme and options of the projects going forward, including the conversion and fit out of the internals of the tower.

Councillor Cresswell (Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Apprenticeships) added:

j)      Through shared vision the Civic Centre would not only be a city centre regeneration project, but a transformational skills project;

k)     Nearly 60% of all employment in Plymouth was in STEM sectors;

l)      Investment in the Freeport and Naval Base would continue to see the growth in highly skills and highly paid roles;

m)   There was an estimate of 8000 new jobs by 2023, 70% of which would require higher level educational qualifications;

n)    The Civic Centre investment would enable City College to have a new city centre campus, focused on blue and green skills;

o)    The Civic Centre investment would also allow City College to deliver 60 new courses to 2000 New Learners per annum, as well as 2500 apprenticeship starts;

p)    At its heart, the Civic Centre project was about inclusive growth; ensuring all residents in St Peter and the Waterfront, Stonehouse, Devonport. Keyham, Ernesettle, Whitleigh, Honicknowle and Ham had the opportunity to get the high value jobs created by Babcock, Oceansgate, and the Freeport;

q)    The investment in the Civic Centre would ensure the workforce is fit for the new jobs of the 21^st century, that citizens would have the opportunity  ...  view the full minutes text for item 141