Issue - meetings

There will be a presentation at the meeting.

The Chair invited Claire Lynch, Business and Skills Manager, Rob Dawson, Principle Enterprise Officer and Simon Martin, Director of Regeneration and Housing to introduce the item and give a presentation. The presentation covered the following:

·  Invest in BANES – Service Update

·  Service Overview – Business and Skills Team

·  Invest in BANES website

·  Invest in BANES Communications and Marketing

Panel members asked the following questions and raised the following points:

Councillor MacFie stated that he had been critical when this was ‘Invest in Bath’ but is now impressed and will look at the website. The officer stated that the trial site could be shared and feedback would be appreciated.

Councillor Hughes stated that businesses were being evicted from the office space in Midsomer Norton which is being closed. He added that a lot of businesses move out of BANES to find office space. This is a bigger issue than a website. The officer stated that the aim is the make the website/service more accessible for different locations. He added that there will be a review and an assessment of the demand for officer and industrial space. He mentioned the Somer Valley Enterprise Zone (SVEZ) plans.

Councillor Hughes acknowledged the SVEZ plans but stated that this facility was 10 years down the line and we need to respond to business needs now. The officer stated that the Council has limited budget and the limited business space is a matter to address in the strategy and the local plan. He stated that the Council can orchestrate events and signpost.

Councillor Hodge asked if the original website would be kept so that no information is lost. She also asked the ‘contacts’ be prominent on the new website. The officer stated that some of the text from the old website would be trimmed so as not to duplicate information with the main Council website and also to cut large bodies of text. The original website will be kept for a year. He confirmed that ‘contacts’ would be shown at the top.

Responding to an observation from Councillor Furse, Councillor Hughes declared an interest as a tenant in the office space in Midsomer Norton.

The Chair thanked the officers.