Agenda and minutes

Councillor Nicola Heaton - other council business

Councillor Nick McDonald – other council business

Janine Bone

Steve Pashley

Jennifer Spencer

Adam Tamsett

Nigel Wheatley

None.

Last meeting held on 29 June 2015 (for confirmation)

The minutes of the meeting held on 23 February 2015 were confirmed and signed by the chair, with an additional note that Councillor Brian Grocock gave his apologies for the meeting as he was on other council business.

Presentation by John Connelly, Digital Infrastructure Manager, Nottingham City Council

John Connelly, Digital Infrastructure Manager, was unavailable to deliver the presentation as he was unwell.

RESOLVED to hear the presentation at the next meeting of the Forum on 23 November 2015

Presentation by Jennifer Lowis, Communications and Marketing Project Manager, Nottingham City Council

Jennifer Lowis, Communications and Marketing Project Manager, gave a presentation, highlighting the following:

(a)  this project is a part of the council’s Good to Great initiative, and aims to attract more overnight visitors to Nottingham and help increase the visitor economy to £1 billion by 2020;

(b)  Nottingham already has a successful events offer locally, so the aim of this project is to profile the city and better promote its offer nationally, using effective partnership working with other organisations such as Experience Nottinghamshire;

(c)  the £120,000 project aims to make Nottingham the primary visitor destination in October for 2015 and 2016. Investment has gone into the following events, which are both established and new events:

·  Goose Fair;

·  Spiegel Tent – music/drama/comedy/caberet;

·  Robin Hood Beer and Cider Festival;

·  International Microfilm Festival;

·  Hockley Hustle;

·  Oktoberfest;

·  Robin Hood Festival Week;

·  Robin Hood Pageant;

·  GameCity;

·  Nottingham Fringe Festival;

·  Nottingham Canal Festival;

(d)  a national press and radio campaign has been undertaken, with adverts in six national newspapers, adverts on four radio stations and a competition. Advertising has been targeted at regions that would need an overnight stay in Nottingham, and insight from Visit England has been used. Social media has also been used to promote the campaign on Facebook, Twitter and Google.

Jennifer gave the following responses in answer to questions from the Committee:

(e)  a problem in the past has been encouraging visitors to stay overnight in Nottingham. This has been addressed by packaging the events so that visitors will stay to attend more than one and build an itinerary;

(f)  the Spiegel Tent, a new attraction, is a Victorian construction in Old Market Square which will host a variety of events. It has already gained a lot of interest on social media;

(g)  the microfilm festival is more of a niche event, but is an area that is gaining interest internationally with hopes to expand into a larger event in future years;

(h)  the council has strong links with the universities and promotional materials have been sent out to students. Events in Nottingham have a history of high student turnout;

(i)  the funding for the scheme will cover two years, followed by an evaluation of its success. The aim is to make Notingham October a part of the city’s culture.

RESOLVED to thank Jennifer for the report

Presentation by John Bann, Cycling and Roadspace Transformation Manager, Nottingham City Council

John Bann, Cycling and Roadspace Transformation Manager, gave a presentation on the planned public realm improvement and traffic management scheme on Station Street, highlighting the following:

(a)  Nottingham Station is one of the main gateways to the city with high levels of pedestrian footfall which is predicted to increase substantially in the future. The current pedestrian facilities along Station Street and Carrington Street are poor quality and this proposed scheme would create an improved environment for pedestrians and cyclists, and help to regenerate the street;

(b)  pedestrianisation of the street fits within the council’s aspiration to create high quality public realm in the Nottingham City Centre Time and Place Plan, and also fits with the heritage streetscape proposals planned for Carrington Street. It should also encourage economic growth in the Southside regeneration area and wider regeneration in the Creative Quarter;

(c)  pedestrians will be given priority in Station Street, between Trent Street and Carrington Street, however access will be maintained for car parks and for servicing of businesses by permit;

(d)  the redeveloped space will include new trees, lighting and space for pavement cafes and pop-up stalls;

(e)  the proposal for the taxi rank which is currently in Station Street is to move the main rank to the second floor of the station’s multi-storey car-park, whilst maintaining a secondary rank by the side access to the station in Station Street, with a feeder rank in Trent Street. The drop off location will remain on Queens Road;

(f)  an alternative proposal has been put forward by taxi drivers and their representatives which would continue the use of the whole of Station Street as a taxi rank;

(g)  no vehicles will be permitted to enter Station Street from London Road, creating a one-way gyratory system from Canal Street along Trent Street and Station Street to London Road;

(h)   there is an ambition to improve the public realm in Carrington Street in the future, but there are no firm plans at the moment to how this will look.

John gave the following responses in answer to questions from the Committee and members of the public:

(i)  pedestrianisation was chosen for Station Street as it fits with the council’s City Centre Time and Place plan to regenerate the area and provide a better environment for those arriving at the station. Most UK cities now discourage cars from city centre streets;

(j)  whilst the new location for the taxi rank in the multi-storey carpark will be slightly further away than its current location, there will be an all-weather, level route to taxis from platforms which will be an improvement for the disabled and elderly;

(k)  Trent Street is likely to become a more important route through to the city centre and the lace market, with the development of the skills hub on Canal Street;

(l)  a final decision on the location of the taxi rank has not yet been made by the Portfolio Holder for Jobs, Growth and Transport , and any alternative proposals will  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.