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

The Chairman welcomed the Cabinet Member for Finance and Performance, the Director of Regeneration and the Sittingbourne Town Centre Regeneration Scheme Manager to the meeting and invited the visitors to introduce themselves.

The Cabinet Member for Regeneration referred to the update on the Sittingbourne Town Centre Regeneration Scheme on the Leader’s Statement at Full Council the previous evening and highlighted the continued progress being made.  The Sittingbourne Town Centre Regeneration Scheme Manager showed a presentation of slides from the scheme, from January 2018 onwards and explained some of the issues encountered.

A discussion ensued which included the following points:

·         Confirmation sought that the LC7 (Land Disposal Policy Condition 7), as detailed on page 23 of the Agenda, had been signed off;

·         clarification on how the proposed one-way system at Central Avenue/Station Street, Sittingbourne would be integrated;

·         concern at the narrowness at West Street/Station Street, Sittingbourne and how HGVs would fit;

·         confirmation that the leisure part of the scheme would still commence in May 2018;

·         clarification on the entry and exit of St. Michael’s Road car park, Sittingbourne;

·         request for a critical path analysis/timetable of the scheme;

·         what were the current risks of the scheme?;

·         the GANTT chart previously circulated was really useful, request for an updated chart;

·         confirmation that the underground subway could not be used and had been filled in safely;

·         had there been changes to SBC’s risk register?;

·         how would SBC manage the assets? and

·         what role did each of the partners play and what risks were each responsible for?

Huw Evans (Quinn Estates) advised that Spirit of Sittingbourne (SoS) were guided by Kent County Council (KCC).  There were vigorous safety and technical audits carried out before commencement of work and there were statutory requirements to follow.  He added that there were a number of stakeholders involved, communication with Network Rail continued to be positive and the Phase 2 (Highway) was still due to start in May 2018 for 17 weeks. 

The Director of Regeneration explained that SBC’s risks in the scheme were regularly discussed with the Senior Management Team, the risks had not changed and there was continual engagement with partners of the scheme.  She said that the Chief Financial Officer and Head of Economy and Community Services were in discussion with Cushman Wakefield (commercial real estate) and would be procuring a managing agent to manage the assets.  Huw Evans added that SBC’s risks were different from SoS’s risks and he was confident that the risks were managed well.

Huw Evans explained that each of the partners had taken on risks and responsibilities and whilst Quinn Estates, due to their geographical proximity, were more involved on a day-to-day level, U & I and Essential Land held a trinsic role.

The Director of Regeneration advised that there would be a Sittingbourne Town Centre (STC) Regeneration Member update briefing in the coming months and Huw Evans added that by the time of the next STC Regeneration update, most of the key risks should have passed.

The Chairman thanked the Cabinet Member for Regeneration, the Director of Regeneration, the Sittingbourne Town Centre Regeneration Scheme Manager, Huw Evans and Simon Western (Quinn Estates) and Kevin McKeever (Lowick) for their attendance.