Agenda item

Report of Councillor Canniford (attached)

At the invitation of the Chairperson Councillor Canniford presented the report.  He informed members that there had been a change to the recommendation wording I the report.

Revised recommendation

“That the Executive endorsed, in principle, the Clevedon, Nailsea and Portishead placemaking strategies as the partnership visions for regeneration, placemaking and economic development for the respective towns, and agreed to delegate to the Executive Member for Placemaking and Economy, in consultation with relevant Town Councils and other partners, the authority to determine the final content and wording of the strategies.”

He noted that until this point, the council had no regeneration programmes for the towns outside of Weston-s-Mare and the placemaking strategy for the latter had been successful. There was investor interest in developing other towns in North Somerset and to secure investment, the towns needed a vision as to how they wish to develop.  The council had been successful in gaining funding for library, sea front and bus service facilities in Clevedon but he added that town centres were changing as working and shopping habits changed so the council needed to take the opportunity to bid for funding and shape investment.  To do so, the towns must have a vision and this must be developed in partnership with the towns.  He commented on how the placemaking strategy for Weston had supported bidding opportunities for regeneration and employment. 

He informed members that the strategy for Portishead involved a large brownfield site which would encourage investment particularly with the new railway line to be built.  The strategy would provide a framework to co-ordinate the evolution of the town and support a phased development with joined up decisions about infrastructure.  He noted his disappointment that Portishead Town Council felt it was no longer able to support the exercise but they had been good partners in participating in the process since 2020.  The town council’s logo would be removed from the cover of the project document and website as soon as possible.

Councillor Canniford acknowledged that in the case of Clevedon, there was still further discussions to be held around the options including those for council-owned land at Churchill Avenue and confirmed those discussions would take place with ward members.  Similarly, no decisions had been made with regard to the vision for Nailsea and all was still up for discussion.  The document was intended to create discussion.  Regular stakeholder meetings would continue but he added this was the first time that the council had had a vision for the towns and was willing to adapt that vision in consultation with local communities.

In discussing the report, members made the following comments:  that there should be no plans to develop the Churchill Avenue site; that the proposals for Clevedon and Nailsea were a list of ideas rather than a strategy and that there was a desire to have further conversations with Councillor Canniford on the proposals.

Members noted that the approach to the consultation for Nailsea and Clevedon differed from the council’s usual approach and felt that the engagement had been extensive and tailored to the communities involved.  They noted that residents had welcomed the approach and the chance to come together to form a vision for their towns’ and communities’ development.  The documents were a means to drawing out ideas but there was more work to do on the detail.  It was important to recognise the purpose of the process and documents and that this was not the end of the process but a continuous dialogue with communities and towns.  Reference was made to the fact that the document for Portishead differed in approach to those for Clevedon and Nailsea.

It was noted that the documents were a broad framework for a vision for the towns and the recommendation did not commit the council to taking a decision at that point on any of the elements in the documents.  There were still site-specific consultations to take place such as that on Churchill Avenue in Clevedon.

Resolved:

That the Executive endorsed, in principle, the Clevedon, Nailsea and Portishead placemaking strategies as the partnership visions for regeneration, placemaking and economic development for the respective towns, and agreed to delegate to the Executive Member for Placemaking and Economy, in consultation with relevant Town Councils and other partners, the authority to determine the final content and wording of the strategies.

Reasons for the decision:

As set out in the report and discussed above.

Alternative options considered and rejected:

As set out in the report and discussed above.