Agenda item

To consider the update on the Tewkesbury Garden Town Programme including finances and to approve the proposed governance structure.

1.       That the progress made to date on the Tewkesbury Garden Town Programme be NOTED.

2.       That the Tewkesbury Garden Town governance structure be APPROVED with implementation delegated to the Tewkesbury Garden Town Programme Director.

3.       That the financial update in respect of the Tewkesbury Garden Town Programme be NOTED.

86.1          The report of the Tewkesbury Garden Town Programme Director, circulated at Pages No. 216-223, sought to update the Committee on the status of the Tewkesbury Garden Town programme including governance proposals and key workstreams. Members were asked to note the progress made to date; to approve the Tewkesbury Garden Town governance structure and to delegate authority to the Tewkesbury Garden Town Programme Director to implement it; and to note the financial update provided in respect of the programme.

86.2          The Tewkesbury Garden Town Programme Director advised that, in terms of the status of the programme, the Tewkesbury Garden Town team now comprised a Programme Director, Programme Manager, Project Coordinator and strategic advisor as well as an external legal resource – the recruitment process was set to continue with the appointment of a Place Manager and marketing/place promotion support. Masterplanning was continuing as well as detailed discussions with landowners and Homes England on the preferred way to comprehensively bring forward the area for development. In terms of the Ashchurch Bridge project, the planning application would now be going to Planning Committee in March rather than February due to key statutory bodies needing additional clarification on some elements. As the planning application progressed, attention would turn to the construction phase with discussions continuing with Gloucestershire County Council and the consultants, Atkins, on the overall timing schedule and the selection of a construction partner to start in the spring. In terms of the governance proposal, the Tewkesbury Garden Town Programme Director explained that work had been ongoing with the Tewkesbury Garden Town Member Reference Panel and Homes England to define the most appropriate governance structure which would ensure close working with other agencies and collectively align the delivery strategy. It was felt the proposals would reinforce engagement with the community and businesses in the area which would be critical to the success of the project moving forward – details of the various Panels and Boards which would be set up were contained within the report and in the Appendix to it. Finally, in terms of the financial status of the programme, the Tewkesbury Garden Town Programme Director advised that with the award of Garden Town Status the Council had been granted £750,000 seed/capacity funding to launch the programme and, to date, there was a balance of £290,000 remaining with commitments scheduled to spend that balance. The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) had announced further funding for this financial year and a further capacity bid had been made, the outcome of which was expected shortly. An expression of interest had been submitted to the MHCLG against a fund of £10 million and the outcome of that was also expected shortly. In terms of the Housing Infrastructure Fund award that had been received for Ashchurch Bridge, that had a contained schedule for draw-down as work was completed and invoiced. In addition, there was the Council’s £600,000 growth fund which was ring-fenced to support large scale developments and planning requirements in the Borough; to date, this had been utilised to support activity for the West Cheltenham Garden Village with £280,000 expended and a balance of £320,000 remaining.

86.3          A Member expressed his concerns over the Garden Town due to flooding issues and impacts on infrastructure. He felt recent flooding events in Tewkesbury Town and surrounding areas showed that flooding came from the east and therefore the Garden Town would exacerbate the flooding issues already faced and he had not seen any work done to address this. In addition, in his view, the Ashchurch bridge would cause major issues by bringing traffic back into Northway and this was not something he could support until it was shown that this would not happen. In response, the Tewkesbury Garden Town Programme Director advised that the current report was not about flooding or wider development in the area so there was no reference to those things in it. However, the Garden Town development should enable the Council to look at development in a more comprehensive manner before planning applications came forward so they could be looked at and understood in the best way possible. The Garden Town principles that had been developed in consultation with Members and stakeholders looked at water as a key principle and, whilst the project did not have all the answers at this stage, the points raised were all key factors that would need to be addressed. The Head of Development Services indicated that the scale of development proposed in the area meant it needed to be comprehensively developed and sustainable. All development would have a strategic flood risk assessment and all flooding issues in the locality would be addressed. It was also intended to visit other large scale development that had put in strategic flood mitigation measures to understand what worked best. In terms of the Ashchurch bridge, this would go to Planning Committee in March – there was no doubt the Ministry of Defence decision to remain on the Ashchurch base had changed what was possible in the area but the bridge still offered the opportunity to unlock development and the addition of the bridge would facilitate the closure of the current level crossing which was a nationwide objective of Network Rail. In terms of Strategic Flood Risk Assessments, the Member felt they always focused on the Rivers Severn and Avon but his point was that a considerable amount of water came from the east of the Borough into Tewkesbury and that was a big concern that did not get sufficiently taken into account.

86.4          A Member thanked the team for the governance structure which had been submitted as she knew it had taken a lot of time and negotiation to produce. She felt the Garden Town was a huge project for the Council which would provide the opportunity to shape the growth and enable the best development possible. Members needed to remember this was a very long term plan and the Garden Town team was working hard to get to a position to move the project forward with the right infrastructure including ‘blue’ infrastructure. Another Member indicated that he welcomed additional public consultation on the project, he felt this was such a huge change that communities needed to feel it was being done for them rather than to them and the best way to achieve that was for them to be involved in a meaningful way. In response the Tewkesbury Garden Town Programme Director confirmed that public consultation was part of the planning process and the Joint Core Strategy process, as well as being part of the governance proposals for the Garden Town Programme so there would certainly be a number of opportunities for consultation. He agreed that the success of the Garden Community programme would be determined by the quality of engagement with the community.

86.5          In response to a query regarding when all Members would be updated on the Tewkesbury Garden Town Programme, the Programme Director confirmed that the team was currently looking for a date for an all Member seminar and this would be advised to Members shortly. In addition, the Chair of the Tewkesbury Garden Town Member Reference Panel confirmed that the Panel had made a commitment to keeping all Members updated on the project and a series of all Member briefings would be held going forward.

86.6          Having considered the report, and attached governance structure, it was