Minute Number

Reason

Interest

Councillor Kelly

Minute 52 – Plan for Sustainable Fishing

Sea Angler

Personal

Councillor Jordan

Minute 53 – Vibrant Culture in Plymouth

Former DJ and Chairman of Chaddlewood Farm Community Centre

Personal

Councillor Mavin

Minute 54 – Community Cohesion

Family member works with immigrants and refugees

Personal

(a)

Government policy, legislative announcements and news which included –

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Marine Management Organisation: since 2016, the draft South West Inshore and Offshore Marine Plan had been developed with stakeholders, providing a robust and evidence-based plan that was tailored to the economic, environmental and social needs of the south west inshore and offshore marine plan areas;

the Marine Management Organisation had announced that the consultation on the Plan would commence on 14 January and close on 6 April 2020;

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Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Environment Bill: the Government claimed that with the speedy return of the this Bill it underlined its commitment to tackling climate change and protecting and restoring the natural environment for future generations;

(b)

Parliamentary legislation included -

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Agricultural Bill;

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Fisheries Bill;

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Rented Homes Bill;

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Local Government (Governance) Bill.

(c)

a response would be provided outside of this meeting, regarding the number of consultations that the council had responded to;

(b)

as part of the Natural England project to restore fragile marine habitats, funding would be available to protect the seagrass meadows within Plymouth Sound and beyond.

(a)

the council wanted to be able to help this sector take advantage of the new Fishing Bill and the negotiations following the UK’s departure from the European Union;

(b)

the council’s ambition was to make Plymouth the new epicentre of English fishing; it was already a sub-regional fishing centre, servicing Cornwall and Devon (between 50 and 60% of the fish sold in Plymouth came from the wider hinterland); this could be taken to a national level of importance with the right support and infrastructure;

(c)

the following organisations were located in Plymouth -

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fisheries management: Marine Management Organisation;

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fisheries science: Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science;

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marine sciences: Maritime and Coastguard Agency;

(d)

Plymouth City Council’s draft Plan for Sustainable Fishing sets out how to revitalise the industry in the city; fishing had always been a part of the city’s history and the council’s recent research had shown that the industry had been growing steadily over the last 20 years;

(e)

the report had been funded from the European Fisheries Funding and developed by the consultants Arcadis;

(f)

the themes in the plan included -

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the right facilities: regeneration of the Fish Market and the Fish Quay; this could form a key element of the city’s National Marine Park plans and celebrated the rich maritime and fishing culture;

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supporting people with a career in fishing: the average age of a skipper was 54 and a crew member 38; the plan put forward ideas to encourage more women, former military personnel and school leavers into the industry, as well as improving training;

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sustainability: Plymouth could be a test facility for greener buildings and cleaner propulsion systems for the fleet;

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policy support and lobbying: lobbying to ensure the best deal for Plymouth fisheries, in the trade negotiations with the EU, to ensure the mixed fleet grew and prospered, as well as lobbying to be an administrative capital of fishing in the UK;

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the right business support for growth: raising finance to support growth could be an issue, help could be in the form of a new legal body or fishing co-op to help with easier access to finance.

(g)

the peak in Plymouth Trawler Agent’s turnover in 2016, had been as a result of a significant amount of cuttlefish being sold (which were a high value product); this had not been replicated in later years due to the movement of the cuttlefish;

(h)

in order to draft the strategy, the council needed to identify what the sector required today and in the future; this would enable the council to discuss issues such as wash facilities for boats with Sutton Harbour Holdings (the Company was part of the stakeholder group and had publically stated  ...  view the full minutes text for item 53.

(a)

the council had been investing in culture in the  city for many years which had resulted in massive growth in this sector; the Box was due to open this year and had seen the £40m project leading the way in contemporary visual art;

(b)

the music sector had suffered from limited investment which had made the grass roots music venues particularly vulnerable; the loss of music spaces within the city included The White Rabbit, Voodoo Lounge and Admiral Stopford Arms;

(c)

despite only operating on average at 53%, the grass roots music venues -

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programmed 2829 live music events each year;

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achieved attendance of 294,216 people at events, in the last 12 months;

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featured 8770 performances;

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provided opportunities for 31,117 musicians;

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boosted the cultural economy by over £4m;

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contributed nearly £7m to the wider night-time economy;

(d)

the report’s recommendations/action plan would be discussed at a meeting scheduled with the music sector in March 2020;

(e)

the search for new music venues with a capacity of 500 and 1500 would commence and the council would work in partnership with the local music industry and nationally to create opportunities and secure these venues;

(f)

this work supported the emerging visitor plan in creating an après sea experience and thriving night-time economy;

(g)

music would be incorporated within the Culture Strategy refresh with the full engagement of local sector.

(h)

whilst there were buildings within the city that could be used as music venues, it was essential to understand the obstacles preventing this from happening; it was also important to stress that the city already had a vibrant music culture;

(i)

funding streams were available for live grass root music venues through grants of up to £40,000 (this could be used for marketing and promotion); the council was providing support to venue owners in order for them to be able to bid for this funding;

(j)

work was being undertaken to review -

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all council owned properties with a view to re-purposing them for use as a venue;

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all council owned land, in order to bring forward sites for use;

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vacant and derelict sites that were coming forward for development which could potentially be re-purposed;

(k)

the feedback from the music industry had been that it wanted a different type of relationship with the council; the industry wished the council to act in a facilitator role; the solution would not be for the council to build or operate venues.

(1)

report and the demonstrable vibrancy of the cultural sector;

(2)

music report and endorsed the adoption of the associated action  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54.

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the impact of the UK leaving the European Union;

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hate crime;

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community cohesion;

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proportion of English speaking residents;

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Integrated Communities Green Paper;

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Plymouth City Survey;

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the impact of social housing on community cohesion;

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bringing communities together;

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Welcoming City;

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equality objectives.

(1)

iMayflower Project;

(2)

Review of actions form the Climate Emergency Action Plan and the Corporate Reduction Action Plan 2019/2024;

(3)

Transports Options/Network.