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Agenda item

Healings Mill

To receive an update on progress made in respect of the redevelopment of the Healings Mill site. 

Minutes:

42.1          Attention was drawn to the report of the Head of Development Services, circulated at Pages No. 90-93, which gave an update on progress being made to secure a suitable development scheme for Healings Mill.  Members were asked to consider the report and to note that further reports would be submitted should there be any significant developments of which Members needed to be advised.

42.2          The Deputy Chief Executive explained that the Tewkesbury Town Centre Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), which was a joint venture between Tewkesbury Borough and Tewkesbury Town Councils, had now been completed and signed-off.  The SPD included direct reference to Healings Mill being a priority in the regeneration proposals which was a step in the right direction and showed the Borough Council’s desire to continue to push the boundaries of what it could influence; however, this influence was limited and there was a reliance on developers and agents bringing forward their own solutions.  The Environment Agency had previously expressed concern about any regeneration on the site as it was known to flood but, following discussions, a joint letter of support in principle had been produced for developers who were looking to bring forward a scheme.  This information was commercially sensitive but he confirmed that conversations were ongoing.  He went on to advise that, following an unsuccessful bid for High Street Funding earlier in the year, the Council had submitted a bid for High Street Heritage Funding, which was thought to be more relevant to Tewkesbury, and the Head of Development Services was working closely with Historic England to shape that.  The Council viewed the redevelopment of Healings Mill as part of the wider regeneration of the town and this would feed into the work on Spring Gardens and Oldbury Road so, although the Council had no direct influence over the project, Members could be assured that conversations were taking place and it was proposed that a further update be provided once information was available to share with the Committee.

42.3          In response to a query regarding the timescales for the High Street Heritage Funding bid, the Deputy Chief Executive indicated that he would report back to Members outside of the meeting.  A Member went on to express the view that the regeneration of Healings Mill was a really important issue for Tewkesbury town and had been ongoing for many years.  As such, he would be reluctant to effectively take this off the agenda and suggested that a further report be provided in three months’ time so that Members could keep abreast of the situation.  In response, the Deputy Chief Executive advised that the Committee needed to be confident that Officers were continuing to have conversations and would provide an update as soon as there was meaningful information that could be shared publicly rather than continuing to include it as an item on future meeting agendas when there was nothing further to report.  If any Member wished to be updated in the interim, he would be more than happy to speak to them informally.  The Member appreciated the work Officers had been doing but he was still uncomfortable with removing this from the Committee Work Programme and would prefer an update in three months.  The Head of Corporate Services reminded Members that the regeneration of Healings Mill was an action in the performance tracker and therefore would still be reported to the Committee on a quarterly basis as part of the performance report so it would not be removed from the agenda completely.

42.4           The Chair indicated that the recommendation on the papers was for further reports to be submitted should there be any significant developments of which Members needed to be advised and, upon being put to the vote, it was

RESOLVED          1. That the update on progress being made to secure a suitable development scheme for Healings Mill be NOTED.

2. That it be AGREED that further reports be submitted to the Committee should there be any significant developments of which Members needed to be advised.

Supporting documents: