Agenda and minutes

Nominations were sought for the Election of Chair for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2014 – 2015.

RESOLVED that Councillor P Downing be appointed Chairman.

                    ( NOTE: COUNCILLOR P DOWNING, PRESIDED)

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors S E Crouch and P M Smith.

In accordance with the provisions of the Code of Conduct adopted by the City and County of Swansea, no interests were declared.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Economy and Investment Cabinet Advisory Committee held on 4 February 2015.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting of the Economy and Investment Cabinet Advisory Committee held on 4 February 2015 be approved as a correct record.

Phil Holmes, Head of Economic Regeneration and Planning  presented the briefing paper which identified the role and function of District Centres within the City and County of Swansea. The paper outlined the recent regeneration activity and considered potential mechanisms for investment that may be of interest to the future research of the Committee. Appendix 1 provided details of district centres, whereas, Appendix 2 gave quantitative data and Appendix 3 set out a brief profile of each District Centre and summarised their key characteristics, attributes and boundaries. The proposed amendments to the boundaries, was provided at in Appendix 4.

Mechanisms for securing future investment including Business Improvement Districts (BID) ,together with Community Action Plans were discussed.  It was thought that Transport Links between District Centres and the City Centre was essential. The differences between district centres was also discussed. The reasons why Uplands was a thriving district centre even though it lacked car parking was highlighted. It was considered important that evidence based answers were provided and it was suggested that the Committee look at ways of encouraging events in these district centres.

Reference was made to the success of the market in Uplands. The effect of Community Councils on District Centres was considered. It was agreed that having Christmas lights for the first time for many years had a very positive affect and had raised the community spirit. It was suggested that the possibility of investigating if funding was available through European Projects could be researched.

It was suggested that it would be beneficial to find out how many business properties within district centres were empty. The issue of parking permits was discussed and how many there actually were in the centre of these districts.  It was requested that a copy of the relevant policies in relation to District Centres be emailed to Committee Members. It was also suggested that planning applications for the Change of use from retail and the time limit for this could be looked at.

AGREED that site visits be undertaken to district centres commencing with  Mumbles and Uplands in order for members to ask questions to members of the public and discuss with businesses issues  including occupation rates and the importance of transport links and car parking.

RESOLVED that the workplan BE APPROVED

The meeting ended at 6.14p.m.