(a)

the Working Plymouth scrutiny panel had received an update on the History Centre at a previous meeting on 30 September 2015 whereby officers provided a detailed sense of the building and ambitions; at this meeting Members would be introduced to Event Communications, the lead consultant for the project, whose representatives would discuss methodology, the content and community engagement;

(b)

Event Communications had been in business for 30 years, was considered to be Europe’s largest and leading visitor destination industry and had delivered over 200 destination projects since its establishment. Examples of projects delivered by Event Communications, relevant to the Plymouth History Centre, were presented including the following:

·         Experience of the Titanic – Belfast

·         Bletchley Park – Heritage Site

·         The Roman Baths

·         Mshed – Bristol

·         Southbank London

(c)

Event Communications had been appointed as consultants for the History Centre at the end of April 2015; the first phase of the development included master-planning whereby the entire visitor experience would be discussed and the use of space planned. Officers would work closely with architects in order to ensure that spaces were open and offered the flexibility required to meet aspirations;

(d)

the master-plan concept included two floors of primarily public spaces; areas included a large open foyer (facing St Luke’s Church) as well as galleries which would focus on telling the stories of Plymouth;

(e)

the team were aware of the need to create spaces that would result in repeat visitation and interest, and were exploring opportunities to create a space where visitors could learn new skills and look into their own history within the city;

(f)

between September and November 2015 officers had been undertaking content development and consultations; specific parts of the community had been contacted regarding the preliminary ideas for the content;  partners and stakeholders had been engaged;

(g)

there was an acknowledgement that not all of Plymouth’s history could be presented/ displayed in the History Centre however exhibitions would be rotated to tell as many stories as possible and to add interest; officers were currently viewing ‘elevator pictures’ as a catalyst for discussing what the content of the galleries might contain;

(h)

in terms of next steps, the Heritage Lottery Fund bid would be undertaken between November 2015 to March 2016, the content of design exhibitions needed to be developed, public contribution needed to be defined, requirements of the architectural scheme needed to be coordinated and the risk review needed to be undertaken;

(i)

confirmation of the Heritage Lottery Fund would be notified to officers in June 2016 in preparation for the 2020 opening.

(j)

Officers confirmed that they would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64.

(a)

Paul Woods had been Chair of the Growth Board for two years and was previously Chair of the Chamber of Commerce in Plymouth. The Growth Board met five times a year and was an informal public/ private partnership and was represented by Plymouth City Council with the membership of Councillor Evans (Leader of the Council), Tracey Lee (Chief Executive) and David Draffan (Assistant Director for Economic Development);

(b)

the Growth Board had the responsibility for overseeing the delivery of the Local Economic Strategy, were ambassadors for the city and were target and results driven;

(c)

the following were the six strands as drivers of growth for Plymouth:

·         Ocean City Infrastructure

·         Digital Economy

·         People, Communities and Institutions

·         Learning and Talent Development

·         Business Growth and Investment

·         Visitor Economy and Culture

(d)

the Chair of the Growth Board congratulated the role of the Council’s Economic Development Team and said that there was better engagement between the private and public sector in the city now than there had been for the past 30 years and that this would pay dividends for the future success of Plymouth;

(e)

Plymouth was beginning to be nationally recognised for projects undertaken including and the City Deal, South Yard and History Centre; the aim now was to drive forward inward investment in the city;

(f)

inward investment in Plymouth was focused around the marine, hotel and social enterprise sectors; the Council actively worked to help businesses grow in the city by providing support and advice on grants, apprenticeships and funding.

(g)

the South Yard flagship project was a transformation growth project for part of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership; the site itself was 7 and ½ hectares in size and would be a marine industry campus. The aim of this project was to narrow the productivity gap in this sector in the south west region in comparison to the rest of the country. Significant progress had been made on site preparing the site for growth activity and a legal agreement had been signed by the MOD to transfer the land;

(h)

South Yard had been designed as an Enterprise Zone and was due to commence in 2016; there was a proposal for a technology centre which would link to ‘in sea’ testing for prototypes;

(i)

Plymouth was part of the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership that had their own strategy that strongly reflected Plymouth’s objectives; Plymouth led on business projects on behalf of the LEP which included new business innovation space and business support services.  Every year the HSWLEP would bid into the Growth Deal and so far Plymouth had done well and secured  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66.