Agenda and minutes

Councillor Georgina Culley

Councillor Nick McDonald

Councillor David Mellen

Jeff Allen

David Bishop

Shaun Ostle

Steve Pashley

Chris Sinclair

Jennifer Spencer

Councillor Chris Gibson and Councillor Michael Edwards declared a possible interest in agenda item 6 as they sit on the Planning Committee for Nottingham City Council.

Last meeting held on 24 November 2014 (for confirmation)

The minutes of the meeting held on 24 November 2014 were confirmed and signed by the Chair.

Report of the Corporate Director for Community Services and the Director of Sport, Culture and Parks

Eddie Curry, Head of Parks and Open Spaces, introduced Corporate Director for Community Services’ report which updated the Forum on the proposed City Centre Landscape Good to Great improvements, highlighting the following points:

(a)  the improvements will be funded by Good to Great initiative money, and aim to improve the look and feel of the city centre through the following package of improvements:

·  a new City Centre interpretive trail infrastructure, and removal of older street interpretation;

·  new interactive interpretation trails, which will be higher quality, more meaningful and themed e.g. Robin Hood, Independent Shopping, Caves, Writers, Beer and Horticulture;

·  new entrance enhancements, including archways, dressing and banners in key shopping streets. Locations will be identified through work with artists and partners;

·  a new creative street lighting scheme in the independent retail areas of the City Centre such as the Lace Market;

·  City Centre tree replacement, removing unsightly high tree stumps;

·  completion of the planting scheme on Maid Marion way (this is already complete);

·  refurbishment and continual management of the planting in Old Market Square;

·  installation of new creative planters and floral features;

·  addition of a further 2 sculptures to the horticultural trail to promote the Clean and Green agenda;

(b)  the improvement of the City Centre environment will help to improve cultural events such as Light Night;

(c)  part of the funding will come from Section 106 money from schemes where the money’s proposed use was ‘off site public open space within Nottingham City Centre. This additional money has made it possible to increase the ambition and scale of the project. Use of this money was agreed by the Area 8 Committee;

(d)  this is phase 1 of a 3 year programme of improvements, and the City Centre Forum will be informed of future updates;

Following the presentation, Eddie gave the following responses to questions by Committee members:

(e)  longevity of the schemes will be ensured by building partnerships, for example, the cultural quarter and Intu. New planting will use fit-for-purpose, tolerant plants. As available money is limited, creative options are the best value for money;

(f)  there should be a balance between interactive, digital interpretation and traditional plaques and signs as not everybody has access to modern technology. Any new initiatives must tie in with the Heritage Strategy;

(g)  the sculptures on the horticultural trail are retail-themed rather than heritage-themed in order to help drive retail footfall;

RESOLVED to note the proposals for the City Centre open spaces / landscape improvements.

Presentation by Angela Rawson, Licensing Manager, Nottingham City Council

Angela Rawson, Licensing Manager, gave a presentation on charity collection in the City Centre, highlighting the following points:

(a)  anybody who wishes to carry out on-street charity collection must apply for a permit for through Nottingham City Council (NCC), and this must be supported by a letter from a charity authorising them to collect on its behalf. Applicants are encouraged to contact the Licensing office to check whether or not a site is available. After collecting, a sign-off by a chartered accountant is required before they are allowed to collect again;

(b)  permits are free of charge and come under one of three categories: full (operates throughout the entire city boundary), local (for a specific area or street) or for collection in front of the council house, which is the only location which allows a table with leaflets;

(c)  one permit per charity is issued at any one time. The application form asks how many collectors there will be and this is used to monitor the number of collectors at any time in the City Centre. The average number of permits allocated per year is 80, with a historical high of 200. Community Protection Officers (CPOs) can ask to see a permit and move collectors on if this is not shown;

(d)  for face-to-face fundraising (also known as chugging), where a charity is asking to set up direct debits rather than appealing for cash, no license is required. The Council has overall control of chugging through an agreement with the Public Fundraising Regulatory Association (PFRA), and can designate the areas where fundraising is permitted, the number of fundraisers per visit and the frequency of visits;

(e)  a diary is produced by the PFRA to show which fundraising team is visiting when and where. This is copied to the Licensing team and to CPOs. All fundraisers must wear an ID card, and fundraising is only permitted in 4 city centre locations: Lister Gate, Smithy Row, Long Row and Milton Street;

(f)  only two complaints have been received in the past 14 months from members of the public although there have been further complaints from businesses such as pavement cafes. Past complaints have lead to changes in policy, such as a reduction of the permitted number in each fundraising team from 6 to 5 and the change of some permitted locations;

(g)  the PFRA carry out spot-checks and have their own rulebook which is enforced by penalties and sanctions. CPOs can also challenge fundraisers and move them on using Anti-social behaviour (ASB) powers;

(h)  Birmingham City Council proposed a byelaw aimed at preventing aggressive street collectors, but this was rejected by the Local Government Minister in July 2014. Birmingham did not appeal the decision and instead made an agreement with the PFRA. In areas where an agreement with the PFRA has been made there has been a fall of 75% in complaints. Nottingham was one of the first to make an agreement and has been held up as an example of good  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

Presentation by Adam Tamsett, General Manager, Intu Broadmarsh

Adam Tamsett, Manager, Intu Broadmarsh and Janine Bone, Regional Director, Intu, gave a presentation on the redevelopment of the Intu Broadmarsh shopping centre, highlighting the following points:

(a)  the Broadmarsh redevelopment is an important part of Intu’s vision for Nottingham City Centre, following the refurbishment of Intu Victoria Centre by Christmas 2015. The ultimate aim is to help raise Nottingham’s retail rankings and for both centres to complement each other and give a different offer. The redevelopment also ties in with the Council’s ‘Southern Gateway’ plans including the pedestrianisation of Collin Street and Broadmarsh carpark improvements;

(b)  Intu Broadmarsh will provide better pedestrian routes and connections to the wider city and will be reinvigorated with new places to shop, eat, relax and play, from daytime through to evening including:

·  a variety of places to eat from grab and go to sit-down restaurants;

·  a multi-screen cinema and new places to relax and play, possibly a bowling alley or a playcentre;

·  new toilets, parent and child facilities and accessible facilities for wheelchair users;

(c)  new entrances to the centre will be created at Collin Street, Middle Hill and Drury Walk

(d)  the brick wall which currently faces onto Collin Street will be cut through to create a new realigned route from Collin Street to Lister Gate. This link will be much wider than the current walkway and will have a fully glazed ceiling. It will have the look and feel of an external street with paving and brick walls, despite being indoors;

(e)  the upper mall will house new restaurants, a multi-screen cinema and entertainment facilities. The interior of the mall will be completely refurbished in a style similar to the refurbishment of Intu Victoria Centre. The façade of the building facing Middle Hill will have a new entrance which will lead directly to the upper mall and cinema. New outward-facing glazing will be cut into this façade. One of the bridges which link to the multi-storey carpark will be retained and modernised;

(f)  the roof of the Drury Walk entrance will be removed and this will be widened to create an open street with a pocket square, which aligns with Bridlesmith Gate. The new buildings in this area are designed to complement the existing heritage buildings on Middle Pavement.

(g)  the existing flagship stores will remain but the tenant mix will be improved, from High Street retail in the main mall to high-end retail at Drury Walk;

Adam and Janine gave the following responses to questions asked by the Committee:

(h)  the public consultation has received 1500 responses, 89% of which have been positive;

(i)  an open street with no doors between Collin Street and Lister Gate has been investigated but public response to this in similar schemes such as Westfield in London has been unpopular. Customers expect an indoor mall and having no doors will create a wind tunnel. The ambition is for the route to feel like an open street despite being indoors. The doors will be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.