To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillor BA Durkin and Mrs G Churchill (HALC).

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

There were no named substitutes.

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 5th October 2009.

The Chairman reported that he had received an email from a member of the public who had stated that Councillor Dawe had, in a public meeting at the Courtyard Centre for the Arts, Hereford, accused the Committee of malpractice.  The Chairman said that he viewed this as a very serious allegation, and asked Councillor Dawe whether he had made a statement to this effect.   Councillor Dawe replied that he had not used the term malpractice, but had been critical of inefficiency on the minuting of meetings and of the operation of the Committee.

The Interim Assistant Chief Executive, Legal and Democratic reminded Members of the advice that had been issued that Members should not discuss matters that were within the remit of the Planning Committee.  She also advised that the Committee should discuss the general policy issues being pursued, rather than the delivery of support to individual businesses.

RESOLVED: That the Minutes for the Meeting held on 5 October 2009, 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 for future scrutiny.

To report on the economic support that the Council has made available to businesses that will have to relocate from the Edgar Street Grid as a result of the construction of a Link Road by ESG Herefordshire Ltd from Aylestone Hill to Edgar Street.

(Councillors DW Greenow and MAF Hubbard declared personal interests)

The Committee considered a report on the economic support that the Council had made available to businesses that would have to relocate from the Edgar Street Grid as a result of the construction of a Link Road by ESG Herefordshire Ltd from Aylestone Hill to Edgar Street.  The Director of Regeneration, reported that the Link Road was a key part of the infrastructure of the Edgar Street Grid Project, part of the Masterplan for the site, and that the line for the road was set in principle in the Council’s Unitary Development Plan.  

The Committee received a presentation from the Economic Development Manager, Herefordshire Council, Gerrard Williams and David Nicholson of ESG Herefordshire Ltd, Andrew Cook of Lambert Smith Hampton, and Stephen Lucas of SQW Consulting.  The presentation covered the following areas, and is appended to the Minutes:

• The Proposed Line of the Link Road;
• The Tenancies affected, together with the business use and size;
• Availability of Employment Land and Commercial Units within Hereford;
• The Faraday Road Site;
• Provision of Business Support by the Council;
• Outline of Progress that could be made by Voluntary Agreement;
• Examples of Heads of Claim associated with both voluntary agreements and compulsory purchase;
• The Compulsory Purchase Order Process and associated powers;
• State of Negotiations with companies on the line of the road;
• Economic Impact Assessment of the road.

Mr G Williams (ESG Herefordshire Ltd) reported that it was intended that the road would be built in three phases.  The first of these would run from Edgar Street to Widemarsh Street, the second from Widemarsh Street to the Eastern Edge of Station Approach, and the final one from Station Approach to Commercial Road.  There were seventeen businesses that were adjacent to the road and who would be affected.    Businesses that would be indirectly affected included the Royal Mail Group, which would lose part of the yard and car park associated with the Sorting Office, Jewson’s, which would lose part of its car park, CRW Carpets and Hereford Glass.  

The Economic Development Manager reported that there were a range of alternative commercial sites throughout the City.  The Council’s Commercial Property Register, which had been updated in November 2008, showed that there was a total of 21, 261 m² of available space for employment use, in 24 units that were of equal or better quality to those already occupied and that were of varying sizes.    The proposed expansion of the Three Elms Trading Estate would provide an additional 5295 m² in 12 units.

He went on to say that Jewson Ltd was currently trading off a five acre site, but that the company had indicated that they might be able to operate from one of approximately half that size.  There were a limited number of sites that would be appropriate for Jewson Ltd, one of which was Faraday Road, a four acre site in the North of the City.  

Steps were being taken  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.