The Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Director of Regeneration, the Special Projects Manager and the Town Centre Scheme Manager have been invited to attend for this item.

The Chairman welcomed the Cabinet Member for Regeneration, the Director of Regeneration, the Special Projects Manager, the Sittingbourne Town Centre Regeneration Scheme Manager, Huw Evans and Simon Western from Quinn Estates and Kevin McEveer from Lowick Communications to the meeting.

The Cabinet Member for Regeneration introduced the update report and advised that, due to deadlines, the report had been produced before Christmas and further updates would be discussed during the meeting.

In response to questions from a Member, the Special Projects Manager advised that the revised floor plans and elevations for the Multi-Storey Car Park (MSCP) would be available to view imminently and that the licence for alterations to the Forum Car Park was necessary as the Council leased the land from Tesco.  He added that there would be 318 car parking spaces although this might change if more disabled spaces were required.

There was a discussion on the complex measures required to complete the land swap and Huw Evans stated that  good engagement with Network Rail was continuing in order to complete the Land Disposal Policy Condition 7 (LC7) process. The Chairman applauded the good communication with Network Rail.

A Member asked about the current risks of the project.  The Sittingbourne Town Centre Regeneration Manager advised that a strategic risk register was available and gave examples of non-operational risks such as failure of the partners to deliver or the loss of tenants.  The Director of Regeneration added that measures were in place to minimise risk and reminded Members that Swale Borough Council’s (SBC) risks had reduced since the scheme went unconditional on 29 November 2017. 

The same Member asked about costs of the project.  The Special Projects Manager explained that the costs of the MSCP were fixed and were no longer affected by the exchange rate.  He added that a Quantity Surveyor had been appointed for the MSCP and costs were all within budget.

The Chairman was pleased that the completion date of 8 December 2017 for the first phase of the highways works had been met and referred to future target dates highlighted in the update report.  The Cabinet Member for Regeneration explained that there might be enforced winter weather delays and that an exact date in May for work to the leisure units was still to be confirmed.  Huw Evans added that work to Units 1 and 2 had gone well, and preparatory works to the leisure units could commence before May 2018.

In response to a question from a Member, the Director of Regeneration advised that all the retail units had been let.

There was a discussion on the impact of moving the Sittingbourne Market to the High Street to allow access to the Forum Car Park for the scheme, and the Director of Regeneration apologised for the lack of communication to traders and public, and advised that the team were working to find a solution for issues raised by traders.  The Cabinet Member for Regeneration referred to the meeting with 33 traders earlier in the week and advised that there would be a further meeting.  He spoke about the complicated Road Traffic Orders and the Director of Regeneration added that the Sittingbourne Town Centre Scheme Manager would send a separate update to Members of the Scrutiny Committee on the subject as the issues were not part of the Sittingbourne Town Centre Regeneration update being discussed.

A Member congratulated the team on progress of the STC Regeneration scheme and suggested that there should be more narrative on the photos and plans in the report so that the public could see how much progress had been made. Kevin McEveer advised that the information was on the Spirit of Sittingbourne (SoS) website.  The Cabinet Member for Regeneration referred to the photo of the fuel storage tank that had been buried underground and caused delays at the beginning of the scheme.

The Director of Regeneration confirmed that there would be a further Member Briefing on Phase 2 and continued communication with the public.

The Chairman referred to the Utility Services on page 2 of the report and asked whether there would be joined up working with the Utility Companies?  Huw Evans stated that it was very complicated but all was going well and whilst there was an obligation for SoS to arrange installation of the services, it was a Kent County Council approval process, and services would be installed before any new tarmacking took place.  He drew attention to the possibility of additional costs involved and unsightly appearance if this was not achieved.  The Sittingbourne Town Centre Manager added that if there was any emergency repair work required by a utility company, the highway could be dug up.

A Member requested details of timelines and future target dates, even if dates changed, for subsequent updates for the Scrutiny Committee. 

The same Member asked the Director of Regeneration what she considered were the 2 main risks currently?  In response, the Director of Regeneration advised that since the project had gone unconditional in November 2017, the focus was on the processes and the team could now look forward to what residents wanted to see.  She added that working with Network Rail had also been problematic but a change in staff had facilitated this so her concern was that relationship building might be lost if staff changed at other organisations.  The Director of Regeneration added that all organisations were currently working well together but some issues were out of their control.  In response to a question from a Member, the Director of Regeneration confirmed that the relationship with Tesco was much more positive.

A Member asked about the footpath connectivity from the High Street and the Special Projects Manager advised that Kent Count Council’s contractors Amey were currently working on the design and it would be funded from Section 106 money due, which would not be paid until work on the MSCP commenced.  He confirmed that the footpath would be disability compliant.

The Cabinet Member for Regeneration said that the focus had been on the large parts of the scheme but updates on the smaller issues would be provided at the next Scrutiny Meeting.

In response to a Member’s question around the cash flow of the contract, the Chairman advised that the financial implications of the scheme were dealt with separately and delivery of the scheme was the priority of the Scrutiny Committee.  Huw Evans added that the trigger payments for the Section 106 payments were all fully budgeted for and since the contract went unconditional in November 2017, it was a fixed price contract and SoS were taking all the risk. 

In response to a question, the Special Projects Manager advised that ‘rights of light’ were considered as part of the planning application process and compensation was available for rights of light issues.

The Chairman thanked all the visitors for their attendance.