To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors PL Bettington, B Durkin and SJ Robertson.

To receive any details of Members nominated to attend the meeting in place of a Member of the Committee.

Councillor JHR Goodwin substituted for Councillor PL Bettington and Councillor WLS Bowen for Councillor SJ Robertson.

To receive any declarations of interest by Members in respect of items on the Agenda.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 8 October 2010.

RESOLVED: That the minutes for the meeting held on 8th October 2010 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To consider suggestions from members of the public on issues the Committee could scrutinise in the future.

There were no suggestions.

To receive an overview of the Edgar Street Grid Project.

The Chairman has indicated that in considering this item, it is intended that the following themes will be addressed:

• Progress of the ESG Project to date

• Flood Alleviation Scheme

• Design Evolution  and Integration with the historic City Centre

• The Retail Quarter

• The Urban Village

Note:  The Chairman has indicated that at this stage the Committee will adjourn and reconvene at 09.30 on the 16th November in the Council Chamber, Brockington, when the following will be considered:

·         A number of key Stakeholders have been invited to express their views on the Edgar Street Grid Project.

·         Herefordshire Futures will be invited to respond to issues raised during the meeting.

It is anticipated that a report from this meeting will be considered by this Committee, currently scheduled to be held on 11th February 2011.

The Chairman welcomed Members to the meeting and said that this would be an information gathering process, with the intention of producing a report to be approved by the Committee at its next meeting.  The meeting would adjourn once the evidence from those involved in commissioning and delivering the project had been heard, and would reconvene at 09.30 on the 16^th November in order to hear further representations from stakeholders.

The Chief Executive, Herefordshire Futures Ltd provided a presentation, which covered a number of areas:

• That Herefordshire Futures Ltd had a much wider remit than ESG Hereford Ltd, and had assembled a Board of Directors with the expertise to push projects forward across the City.  The company’s role was to take strategic ideas from the Council, consider the feasibility of them with the Board, and deliver them, at the request of the Council, with a mixture of public and private funding.

• That the original Masterplan for the Edgar Street Grid site produced in 2004 had proved unpopular with the Commission for the Built Environment (CABE) and English Heritage.  Greater liaison with both of these bodies had resulted in a greatly improved plan produced by ESG Herefordshire Ltd in 2007which had been, following consultation, adopted by the Council in 2008.

• That the Urban Village was a fundamental part of the Masterplan, and was being formulated with long term, sustainable objectives.

• That the Old Livestock Market area was a natural extension of the City centre, with a design that would tie it in to the existing City.  There was an emphasis on retail and leisure at the southern of the site, which would then blend with the residential area of the Urban Village to the south east of the site.

• There would be a development opportunity for Hereford United, which could include additional fast food outlets on the ground floor of the Football Club, and possible student accommodation or a budget hotel.

• A Higher Education (HE) Centre would be developed on the Blackfriars site.  In addition to HE provision, the Centre would facilitate business use, with auditoria suitable for conferences.  There would be remote linkages to other colleges that would allow local students to study for degrees elsewhere in the Country. 

• Additional cable ducts would be laid below new roads and pavements to facilitate broadband requirements on the site.

• The Flood Alleviation Scheme which was designed to help prevent the City being flooded by waters from the Yazor Brook had been agreed with the National Trust, and would consist of a 2 metre bore pipe that would take flood waters from the brook safely into the Wye.  The scheme had received planning permission.

• As part of the business relocation process from the route of the Link Road, monthly meetings were now being held with the businesses, and there was now a single point of contact with them. The existing Livestock businesses still located on the Old Livestock Market Site were updated on progress by the Council, whilst Hereford Futures dealt  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.