Agenda and minutes

Councillor Jon Collins (other Council business)

Councillor Georgina Culley (other Council business)

Councillor Nicola Heaton (non-council business)

Sean Akins - Invest in Nottingham

It is with sadness that the Chair informed the Forum that Jim Taylor, representing Invest in Nottingham and former Director of Development for the City Council, passed away last night. The Forum stood in silence in his memory.

Although not required to so:

• Councillor  Chris Gibson informed the Forum that, with regard to agenda item 5, 'Update on Broadmarsh Redevelopment', (minute …..) he is Chair of the Planning Committee which is likely to consider plans for the redevelopment;

• Councillor Brian Grocock informed the Forum that,  with regard to agenda item 6, 'Late Night Levy' (minute…..) he is a member of the Licensing Committee and as such  will be asked to consider and make a recommendation to full Council on the Levy.

As no decision is required on these items, each Councillor remained in the room but declined to comment on or contribute to the Forum's discussion during the respective items.

To confirm the minutes of the last meeting held on 25 November 2013

Subject to the inclusion of Councillor Brian Grocock's apologies for absence, the minutes of the meeting held on 25 November 2013 were confirmed and signed by the Chair.

Presentation by Kathy McArdle, Chief Operations Officer, Creative Quarter Company (sumbitted following the meeting)

Kathy McArdle, Chief Operating Officer for the Creative Quarter (CQ), delivered a presentation. the Forum noted that Councillor McDonald has been very active in supporting the development of the Creative Quarter.

Kathy McArdle highlighted the following points:

(a)  the Creative Quarter was launched in September 2013 so has only been running for approximately 7 months with the mission 'to make Nottingham a great environment in which enterprise can flourish, to start to grow and sustain a creative and innovative business';

(b)  the four strategic aims are: 

o  enterprise - information hub, website, signposting, property, workforce, finance, inward investment;

o  Ecosystem -connect, co-ordinate, integrate;

o  Energy - a vibrant area, dynamic, a special place; animation, events, digital engagement;

o  exposure - promotion, profile, positioning, reputation;

(c)  The CQ includes an area to the south east of the City incorporating the Lace Market area and Sneinton Market, promoting vintage warehouse buildings and a market culture;

(d)  a 'pop-up' shop next to the Lace Market tram stop has proved very successful during the Christmas shopping period. 40 different businesses traded and exhibited, allowing the opportunity to test their retail offer and attracting 15,000 visitors;

(e)  the 'Hockley Rocks' promotion during November and December proved very successful with live music at shops and restaurants and the header 'Discover Hockley - eat, drink, shop and be entertained';

(f)  many of the independent traders such as 'Wired' café bar, 'Dezigne' 'Pelican Jazz Club' and 'Annie's Burger Shack' are trading very successfully;

(g)  new business rates relief and business support is resulting in a rejuvenation of the CQ area;

(h)  Cobden Chambers is to be refurbished with facility for 9 retail units, the second floor will host independent retail, the third floor will offer furniture and home wares, while the fourth floor will be co-owner space. It is expected that the building will act as a 'retail incubator' for the City and encourage other older buildings to be brought back into use;

(i)  a large scale refurbishment of buildings in rows A-C of Sneinton Market is planned  to help rejuvenate the area. A working group has been established to ensure that the vision focus of the rejuvenation is appropriate and sustainable.

Kathy McArdle responded to Forum members’ questions as follows:

(j)  Sneinton Market area is already full of energy and the high specification refurbishment of the units will allow for scope for creative individuals to adapt the spaces to their needs and expressions so should be attractive to tenants who will continue to improve the area. Negotiations are underway regarding tidying up the existing privately owned shops and the facade of the Pegasus pub;

(k)  there is demand for creative, flexible work space as is proved by the success of the creative 'pop-up' shop;

(l)  A pro-active approach on all fronts, creative marketing of the area, supportive loans and grants to new businesses, and active property management are all essential to the continued success of the CQ.

Forum members made the following comments:

(m)  the Sneinton Market  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

Presentation by David Bishop, Corporate Director for Development (submitted following the meeting)

David Bishop, Corporate Director for Development, delivered a presentation and updated the Forum on the progress of the 'Broadmarsh Deal' redevelopment and made the following points:

(a)  agreement has been reached to redevelop the Broadmarsh Shopping  Centre and it is predicted that once passed through the planning stage, works could start in late 2015 with completion anticipated for late 2017;

(b)  Broadmarsh area is considered the 'Southern Gateway' into the City so any larger scale redevelopment must take into consideration a partnership view of the impact and benefit on the Castle, the College and any new development around the train station;

(c)  £150 million is predicted to be spent on the redevelopment of the Broadmarsh Centre with a one third contribution from the Council to support and develop public realm works including transformation of the Broadmarsh car park;

(d)  £40 million is to be spent on the Victoria Centre, including roof works;

(e)  maintenance works are currently underway on Broadmarsh car park to ensure continued safety and security and it is intended to retain the Broadmarsh bus station but for it to be transformed;

(f)  there will be significant pedestrianisation within the scheme;

(g)  there is potential for Carrington Street to be opened up and connected to Listergate but concerns have been raised regarding the impact on City traffic flow if there is either temporary or permanent access to Collin Street, however, no decisions have yet been made.

Members of the Forum made the following points:

(h)  it is vital to ensure that transport links and routes are appropriately placed in the new development;

(i)  over pedestrianisation can result in bus stops being too far from the shopping areas;

(j)  Broadmarsh and Victoria Shopping Centres are two different brands and will offer different shopping experiences with differently styled shops.

RESOLVED for the Corporate Director of Development to provide a further update on the redevelopment of Broadmarsh to the Forum in 6 months time.

Presentation by Pete Mitchell, Head of Licensing, Permits and Regulations

(submitted following the meeting)

Angela Rawson, Licensing Manager, delivered a presentation, a copy of which is now available with the agenda, updating the Forum on the progress of consultation on the Late Night Levy (LNL).

The 'Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 (Part 2: Chapter 2), enables Local Authorities to place a levy on premises serving alcohol during the late night supply period. At least 70% of the net amount gained from a levy must be passed to the Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner, while the City Council has the remaining 30% which must be used to address the issues resulting directly from late night drinking.

The presentation provided details of cost to premises (in addition to existing charges), potential exemptions and reductions.

Nottingham City Council's proposal for the levy is as follows:

• Adopt a LNL to apply from 1 October 2014
• The late night supply period will be 00:01 – 06:00.
• 30% reduction in the fee for BID members
• Exemption for premises falling within the following categories (defined in the regulations):

-  Premises with overnight accommodation

-  Theatres and cinemas

-  Bingo halls

-  Community Amateur Sports Clubs

-  Community premises

-  Premises which only become liable for the LNL by virtue of their being permitted to supply alcohol for consumption on the premises on 1st January in every year.

• Net funds split 30/70 between the Licensing Authority and the Police.
• The Licensing Authority’s portion of the funding be used to fund night time Community Protection Officer posts.

Consultation on the proposals is currently running from 13 January 2014 to 6 April 2014 and can be completed at www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/latenightlevy

Jeff Allen, Vice Chair of the Retail/Leisure Business Improvement District (BID), informed the Forum that the Levy was not a popular proposal for licensed BID members who perceived it as a an additional tax when, through partnership working, they already contributed a significant amount of funding to help address issues connected to late night drinking in the City.  Jeff Allen asked the Forum to consider the implications and loss to the City's late night economy if such a levy was implemented as operators would not pay two levies and would withdraw from the current arrangements and the partnership working which is currently successful, just for the sake of the City Council funding 3 PCOs to work 5 days a week. It was highlighted that even if reductions are available, members of BID would not be eligible.

RESOLVED to receive a further report from the Head Of Licensing to the next meeting, outlining the results of consultation on the Late Night Levy.