(a)

a report was submitted to the 9 December 2014 Cabinet meeting regarding the renewal of Plymouth City Centre’s Business Improvement District detailing the significant achievements of the city centre since the establishment of the BID in 2005;

(b)

the legislative framework for business improvement districts contained a provision enabling the local authority to veto the bid proposals;

(c)

Doug Fletcher, the Chair of the Board, and Officers had been working extremely hard to continue the ongoing success of the bid specifically during a time of difficult budgetary pressures;

(d)

in total 612 ballot papers were issued and 249 ballots received resulting in a 40.8% turnout – this was reflective of the national average. 175 votes were in favour of the BID with a percentage of 70.2%.

(e)

the City Centre BID was undertaken as a secret ballot therefore a breakdown of the number of votes from smaller retailers in comparison to larger retailers was not available;

(f)

the costs in developing the bid proposals and hosting a ballot was approximately £100,000 if taking the national average, however the Plymouth City Centre ballot had been managed within a much smaller budget of £40,000 including in-kind staffing costs and printing;

(g)

changes had taken place with regards to the governance structure of the Plymouth City Centre Company including both the strategic and operational boards as well as the financial structure and focus of the company’s projects. The promotion of the city centre and West End was a priority for the PCCC and this was strongly reflected in the business case to ensure the future resilience of Plymouth’s city centre;

(h)

the extension of the geographical City Centre BID area to include Bretonside had been formally agreed; consultation had taken place and this area of the city was fully inclusive in the city centre business improvement district.

(a)

the Plymouth Plan was being published in two parts; Members currently had the opportunity to comment on part 1 of the plan as part of the consultation process. The plan itself set out the shared strategic direction for the future of the city and would bring together approximately 130 plans and strategies into one, including the Local Economic Strategy, the Health and Wellbeing Strategy and the Child Poverty Strategy;

(b)

the updated Local Economic Strategy (LES) would feed directly into the Plymouth Plan reflecting aspirations of both the public and private sector. Six priority sectors were focused upon in the LES including Ocean City Infrastructure, Digital Economy, Business Growth and Investment, Learning and Talent Development, People Communities and Institutions, and the Visitor Economy and Culture;

(c)

preparations were ongoing for the Mayflower 400 celebrations with an exchange programme with US businesses as a key driver; it was essential that Plymouth’s infrastructure was in place to support this event to showcase the city at its best;

(d)

the Council had an existing portfolio of £112m and an income of £6.8m from business occupancy rates which were approximately at 90% capacity;

(e)

the Council’s commercial estate supported 326 businesses and 2670 jobs ranging from medical to manufacturing services; the economic development department acted as an enabler for economic growth in the city;

(f)

Langage Science Park was due for completion in July 2015, the 3000sqft site was expected to attract 80 new jobs; the £40m development of Bretonside bus station was expected to delivery 260 construction jobs.

(g)

the Plymouth Plan would bring together many strategies, with adoption of the plan expected by 2017; the plan would however be used for material consideration to make current decisions. Work linked to the Council’s Economic Strategy was still ongoing with an emphasis on job creation and support to enable businesses the potential to grow;

(h)

in relation to Policy 8 of the Plymouth Plan ‘Protecting and Strengthening Devonport Naval Base and Dockyard’s Strategic Role’, officers confirmed that the Council had a good relationship with the Naval Base and Babcock Group PLC.  The Devonport Task Group, of which both the Council and Naval Base were represented by the Leader of the Council and the Commander of the Naval Base, focused upon cooperative working to drive the city forward. A piece of work was due to commence, led by the University of Plymouth, to monitor the socioeconomic impact of the dockyard on Plymouth;

(i)

officers confirmed that they would review the wording of Policy 24 ‘Provision for Shops and Services’ as retail should be specified in the policy. It was also confirmed that the retail space targets specified  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.