Agenda and minutes

David Bishop

Tom Waldron-Lynch

Janine Bone (Adam Tamsett substituting)

None

Last meeting held on 2 June 2014 (for confirmation)

The minutes of the meeting held on 2 June 2014 were confirmed and signed by the Chair.

The Chair of the meeting is of the opinion that this item, although not included on the agenda, should be considered as a matter of urgency in accordance with Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972, in view of the special circumstances of ensuring the continuity of Forum Business in the potential absence of the Chair.

RESOLVED for Jeff Allen representing Nottingham BID to be appointed Vice-Chair for the 2014/15 municipal year.

Presentation by Nicki Jenkins, Head of Economic Programmes and Skills

Catherine Mayhew, City Centre Coordinator, delivered a presentation which was included in the online agenda following the meeting, providing detailed information on retail unit vacancy within the City Centre.

In summary, the following points were highlighted:

(a)  the twice yearly survey is undertaken by the City Council, in consultation with partners from the Retail Growth Forum, including Intu, considering the occupancy of private and council owned ground floor units within an identified City Centre area;

(b)  the core area considered in the City Council survey varies slightly from, and is smaller than, that considered by the national Local Data Company (LDC) survey which is expected to produce its results shortly;

(c)  the City Council survey produced detailed figures providing information on vacant units as follows:

(d)  at 13.0%, Nottingham’s retail vacancy rate is similar to the LDC GB shop vacancy rate of 13.4% as with 168 vacant units, this equated to a vacancy figure of 13%.  However, once the units which are unavailable (development pending), under offer and awaiting occupancy are deducted, this produces an adjusted vacancy figure of 9.4% which is the lowest rate in the city for the past 5 years, which compares favourably with the LDC overall retail and leisure vacancy rate at 11.9%;

(e)  also considered in the survey is the vacancy duration and vacancy hotspots.

(f)  a Vacancy Action Plan will consider what internal and external mechanisms can be applied to increase City Centre occupation.

Points raised during the meeting included:

(a)  some areas attract certain types of shop i.e. part of Mansfield Road is occupied mainly by shops selling chocolate and alcohol. This attracts specific customers and also behavioural issues which could deter other types of business from locating in that area. Instances such as this need to be considered as part of the vacancy action plan, possibly involving Community Protection Officers to assist in addressing behaviour issues;

(b)  mapping should be consistent as while the survey concludes that there are less vacant shops than 2 years ago, it is a concern that the boundaries do not match those of the LDC survey, which is what most national retailers will refer to;

(c)  private owners need encouragement to maintain the premises above the shops and possibly even adapt them for separate business use;

(d)  it is concerned that the cafe areas on High Pavement are not considered as part of the survey area;

(e)  Hockley is a key independent business area in the City but controls should be considered to prevent a potential shift from retail to leisure businesses such as cafes and bars;

(f)  the new Market Square was planned to include high-quality restaurant and food areas, so a shift from clothes and retail shops to fast food outlets would not be desirable;

(g)  the continuing development of student accommodation within the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

Presentation by the Nottingham Office Forum

Chris Sinclair, Innes England, representing Nottingham Means Business, delivered a PowerPoint presentation, which can be viewed at the online agenda. The Nottingham Office Agents Forum, consisting of 15 partners, undertakes annual reviews to assess the office offer available within Nottingham.

The slides highlighted the following points:

(a)  there is no specific office area within Nottingham with pockets of office accommodation scattered throughout the City;

(b)  3 annual reviews have been undertaken with Business Park data held separately to ensure that a like-for-like comparison is possible;

(c)  during 2013, there has been 130% increase in grade A office space deals;

(d)  there is a total stock of 6,639,000 ft.²;

(e)  413,000 ft.² of office space has changed use, mainly to student accommodation;

(f)  so far during 2014, 67,000 ft.² office space has been traded, three quarters of the deals taking place involved space of more than 5,000 ft.²;

(g)  a third of the deals to date are connected to the Creative Quarter however, there continues to be a shortage of suitable office accommodation in this area;

(h)  the key deals during this year have been as follows:

(i)  City Gate - 12,700 ft.²;

(ii)  County House – 9,600 ft.²;

(iii)  Hounds Gate – 7,400 ft.²;

(i)  investments transactions during 2014 have involved 108,000 ft.² which is an increase of 51% on the same period last year;

(j)  there is an increasing appetite from institutional investors for high quality office space;

(k)  a further 2,500,000 ft.² of quality office accommodation is proposed within the City core area including schemes at Unity Square, NG2 Business Park, and Eastside.

Chris Sinclair responded to the Committee’s questions as follows;

(l)  the ‘Portal’ development has stalled due to planning permissions. It could potentially be sited on NG2 as this is a popular location in the City, especially with easy access to the tram and train station;

(m)  there is a shortage of grade A office accommodation in Nottingham so key sites are being considered and the City Council is investigating how larger developments can be progressed and encouraged;

(n)  the Southern Gateway area to the City is the most obvious key regeneration area to promote;

(o)  currently the rent in Nottingham per square-foot is £15-16, but further incentives need to be offered such as ‘rent free’ periods;

(p)  Derby and Leicester are in a similar position to Nottingham with regards to the quality and volume of office space available and  concerns that it is not viable to build speculative office space at this time;

(q)  the effects of the economic recovery are beginning to show in Nottingham but it may be a few years yet until expansion is obvious;

(r)  as adequate accommodation is not available in Nottingham, business is lost to other cities which offer larger and higher grade office space.

RESOLVED to note the presentation and update.

Stewart Thornhill, City Centre Development Officer to introduce

Stewart Thornhill, Central Neighbourhood Development Officer, delivered a presentation which can be viewed at the online agenda, providing a brief overview of City Centre issues.

The Forum’s questions were responded to as follows:

(a)  as more people are living in the City Centre, noise has become the main issue of complaint. This includes customer smoking outside pubs and cafés but the City Council are working with premises to encourage them to create specific smoking areas;

(b)  parking is an ongoing issue which has improved although abuse of parking permits continues;

(c)  some street pedlars are causing problems but the majority of complaints from businesses concern face-to-face fundraisers, with some of fundraisers using an authorised stands. Also known as 'chuggers', some have adopted an aggressive approach to fundraising which is being addressed. Nottingham's approach has been held up as best practice by engaging with 'chuggers' when issues arise;

(d)  begging has reduced but with funding cuts to some of the support agencies it is expected that this problem will increase. As of October, Community Protection Officers and the Police have a new power of 'Public Space Protection Orders'. However, this doesn't cover busking issues but Community Protection Officers are willing to take more responsibility in this area;

(e)  there is a voluntary code of practice for buskers, however, not all comply. The number of busking pitches has been reduced which results in unauthorised busking. This is not known to be a problem in the outlying town centres;

(f)  drug and alcohol abuse is increasing and generally is a larger issue in parks, deterring public use with specific problems reported at the Rest Gardens off Barker Gate;

(g)  the problem of rogue ‘Big Issue’ sellers is being addressed with Big Issue;

(h)  more people are now living in the City Centre resulting in many more issues being raised both by residents and businesses, including storage prior to collection of domestic waste. This is an ongoing issue which Planning need to address in the planning application process by ensuring that refuse storage must be provided for residential properties.

Jeff Allen, Nottingham BID, requested that before adoption, local businesses be consulted on proposed policies which may impact on them.

RESOLVED

(1)    to note the presentation;

(2)    for Stewart Thornhill to take measures to address the gathering of drinkers and drug users at the Rest Garden on Barker Gate;

(3)     for a briefing note outlining the powers of the 'Public Space Protection Order' to be circulated to members of the Committee.