This report provides an overview of the development Market Town Investment Plans for Herefordshire’s five market towns in 2021-22, in order to seek the views of the scrutiny committee on the benefits of the process and how projects identified are being progressed. 

The committee considered a report on the Market Towns Investment Plans (MTIP). The Chairperson introduced the officers to present the council’s report.

The Service Director, Economy & Growth clarified that the purpose of advancing the MTIPs was to facilitate the development of a Towns Plan in response to Hereford’s allocation of funding from the Stronger Towns Fund. This plan was intended to inform the government on how the funding should be utilized. The commission was convened in 2020, with the objective of developing the plan locally in collaboration with town councils and local residents to establish an evidence-based framework for resource allocation. Subsequently, the MTIPs were utilized in the subsequent round of Levelling up funds to facilitate bids for government funding allocations.

In response to a question regarding the feasibility studies for the next stage, the Head of Economy & Regeneration stated that while limited funding opportunities have recently been offered by the government, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) has been identified as a potential source of funding to support the development of feasibility studies for each market town. This will enable them to progress some of the projects outlined within their MTIPs. Engagement with town councils has been undertaken to identify the priorities that should be included in feasibility studies using the UKSPF feasibility funding, and then developing detailed specifications and commissioning consultants to take these projects forward between December 2024 and March 2025.

The Chairperson asked each of the town council clerks, present at the meeting, to feed back their views to the committee, particularly on the process initially for creating the MTIPs, and how it was handled, and whether they were engaged with sufficiently, in and how it can possibly be improved in the future.

The principal points of the subsequent discussion are summarised below:

1. Liz Kelso (Clerk of Kington Town Council) provided a brief overview of the MTIPs for Kington Town Council which included feasibility studies regarding, in particular, car parking, Kington High Street Regeneration and Kington Market Hall and surrounds and; Kington Police and Fire Station relocation and redevelopment.

2. Karen Mitchell provided a brief overview of the MTIPs for Bromyard and Winslow Town Council which included feasibility studies regarding, in particular, an EcoHub, Bromyard Eastern Enhancement, Greenway, Health and Wellbeing Hub, and; skills development.

3. The Service Director Economy & Growth noted that bringing forward capital schemes is complicated when the council does not own land. A lot of the projects that are in the MTIPs are long-standing ambitions for the areas that have not come about in the 2021-22 period. It helps to construct a case for them and helps to allocate resources when taking them forward.

4. The Chairperson commented that the potential for the feasibility studies to make recommendations that could unlock funding to take individual projects to a shovel-ready stage would be good so that if funding does become available, there are projects ready to be started.

5. The Service Director Economy & Growth added the investment to get projects shovel-ready is a revenue cost and it is where there is greatest pressure. Therefore, the main issue with large capital projects is how the revenue money is invested without knowing that the return on investment will be secured.

6. Angela Price provided a brief overview of the MTIPs for Ledbury Town Council which included feasibility studies regarding, in particular, employment land, tourism and events opportunities, and local railway station accessibility. It was noted that there were some items on the list as priorities which have not been developed in the time since.

7. The Service Director for Economy & Growth acknowledged that communication with town and parish councils can be challenging. However, the MTIPs have proven effective in streamlining these communications. An allocated economic development officer is now responsible for leading engagement with each town, and recently filled vacancies will further support improved collaboration with the councils. Additionally, it was noted that updates regarding related parties, such as Network Rail in connection with Ledbury railway station, should be communicated back to the clerks. The Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive are currently doing a tour of each of the town councils as a way of covering the issues that come up with those respective town councils.

8. Julie Debbage provided a brief overview of the MTIPs for Leominster Town Council which included feasibility studies regarding, in particular, the Marsh Court and Former Dales site, and the development of the Old Priory after its community asset transfer from Herefordshire Council in September 2022.

9. Carla Boyles provided a brief overview of the MTIPs for Ross-on-Wye Town Council which included feasibility studies regarding, in particular, the enterprise park, Broadmeadow and Tanyard Lane Development, and other improvements to support the visitor economy such as high street pedestrianisation.

10. The Head of Economy and Regeneration highlighted the difficulties in securing consultants for certain projects. In November, the council issued a tender for the Market House, Apron Plaza, and high street pedestrianisation but received no responses due to the project's broad scope. After discussions with the clerk, it was decided to narrow the focus to high street pedestrianisation alone for the next tender.

After each town council clerk had spoken, the Chairperson invited the rest of the committee to discuss the item.

In response to a question on whether stakeholders were sufficiently engaged in the initial development of the MTIPs, the clerks agreed that they and their respective town councils felt engaged.

In response to a question about Herefordshire Council’s role to keep an eye on how things are changing in the market towns and keeping an evolving list of priorities for each of the market towns, the Service Director for Economy & Growth agreed that it would be a good idea to have a pipeline of regular review and to ensure that there is clear communication around the priorities for each of the market towns.

In response to a question about how many of the five-year targets are on course for completion and how long should any targets be moved forward, the Service Director for Economy & Growth noted that the outcomes can be reviewed as part of an annual review which will help to address some of the communication issues with the town and parish councils.

In response to a question about the council's awareness of the MTIPs, the Service Director for Economy & Growth explained that the MTIPs are active documents managed within the Economy and Environment department. The planning team is familiar with the MTIPs and reviews them when developing foundational evidence for the Local Plan and other documents. For instance, the MTIPs were taken into account during the creation of the UKSPF investment plan to align with identified priorities.

In response to a question about representation within the county BID, Service Director for Economy & Growth added that the town councils have a seat on the board of the DBID. The clerks noted the lack of feedback from DBID meetings and suggested there could be better communication in relation to the DBID.

The Chairperson added that an agenda item on the committee’s work programme later in the year is looking at the DBID specifically.

Carla Boyles noted that there is a lot of difference between what the county Business Improvement District (BID) and the Hereford city BID do, and that the town council deliver a lot of the things that the BID deliver for the city.

The Service Director for Economy & Growth responded by noting that the BIDs for the city and for the county are separate organisations from the council. When a BID is created, it has a five-year term and there is a ballot of local businesses to decide as to whether they want to deliver a five-year business plan which dictates what the focus of each BID is. For the city BID, its members are mainly retailers who pay a levy and a lot of the focus in on city centre enhancements and public realms improvements. They have recently been through a ballot for the next five-year term which focuses more on tourism than previously. The county BID’s primary focus is around tourism and independent retail enhancement and how Hereford is promoted as a place to visit.

In response to a question about whether the MTIPs have been fed through the Social Value Engine, the Service Director for Economy & Growth noted they haven’t been as of yet but that they can be. There were elements of social value that were looked at by Rose Regeneration in drafting the reports, but there are no clear targets around social value at the moment.

The Chairperson thanked the clerks for attending the meeting.

There was a short adjournment to enable committee members to consider potential recommendations. The meeting recommenced and the following resolutions were agreed by the committee.

Resolved:

Herefordshire Council to

1. Recognise that the market town investment plans are living documents with projects that are regularly reviewed and updated.

2. Work with town councils to review annually the list of projects in each of the market towns’ investment plans.

3. Ensure regular communications between the council and Herefordshire’s market towns.

4. Encourage town councils to engage with their rural hinterlands on their ambitions, thus strengthening the understanding and loyalty to their local service centre.