Agenda item

The report attached sets out an overview of the 3 workstreams (Re-opening, Resilience, Renewal Vision) for Panel Members to scrutinise and comment to Cabinet.

There will also be a presentation at the meeting.

David Trethewey - Director of Partnership & Corporate Services and Lynda Deane – Senior Manager, Reopening & Renewing High Streets Workstream Lead, Emergency Management and Eventsgave a presentation to the panel which covered the following:

·  Renewal Board and Workstreams – outline of approach

·  Renewal Workstream Leadership

·  Reopening the High Street Safely (Aim and Objectives)

·  Reopening and Renewing Our High Streets

·  Reopening the High Streets Safely – social distancing measures, access restrictions, retail reopening, licensed premises and visitor attractions

·  Reopening Safely Guidance and Support

·  Reopening the High Street Safely – Webinars, New Planning and Business Bill and ‘I love local’ campaign

·  Reopening the High Street Safely – Next steps

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

Councillor Hirst raised the following points. Officer responses are shown in italics:

·  Which Cabinet Member does this sit with? The Leader and whole Cabinet with Cabinet Members leading on specific parts of the workstreams.

·  What are the timelines? There are some timelines regarding reopening and we are starting to build timelines into the other programmes.

·  On the issue of reskilling – unemployment is a current issue, we are working to build a skills hub and are in discussions with WECA and colleges. This can be reported to a future meeting of the Panel.

·  Regarding governance, there is a gap for Bath as it has no forum, we need to find a solution for this. Every area is different regarding governance, there will be discussions about the gap for Bath.

Councillor Craig asked that members be kept informed and involved, especially as Bath does not have parish councils. She also asked about contingency plans for each workstream in case of any future outbreaks. The officer agreed that engaging with members is important. He explained that public health officers are built into the action plan for each programme.

Councillor Walker asked if the work done on reopening would bring the High Street back to Bath. The officer explained that public health has been the priority rather than attracting visitors from elsewhere, but this could now be considered in moving forwards.

Councillor Born stated that the ‘I love local’ campaign was good and asked if food outlets with no space for tables and chairs would benefit from a central food court area, signposted in the city where people can eat take away food. The officer explained that she had been looking at ‘parklets’ which are areas of benches and seating although finding space is a challenge. She explained that work would start on Kingsmead Square soon.

Councillor Davies asked if we know how we are doing relative to other authorities and if best practice was being shared. The officer explained that the BID footfall data showed that the trend is going up and that the area is above average for our comparator cities, particularly at weekends. She explained that she attends the Local Resilience Forum that other cities representatives also attend so best practice can be shared.

Councillor O’Brien raised the following points. Officer responses are shown in italics.

·  Why is Milsom Street closed to cars when it is not a narrow street and has been quiet? This is one of Bath’s main shopping areas, we will consult with traders to look towards helping footfall.

·  Keynsham High Street did not qualify regarding the government guidelines on footfall. There was a motion at the Town Council but may have been some misunderstanding, why were businesses themselves not consulted? We could not consult in the way we had done it previously, there was not time to consult with businesses. Safety was the first concern, there were emergency TROs, we worked closely with the Town Council and are monitoring the scheme.

·  Item 9 mentions that the recovery of tourism could take 3-5 years, is this based on analysis? This came from colleagues in Heritage Services. Many visitors had been from the US and Far East and it will take time for confidence to return. 

·  Why after many years of consultation and analysis have the plans for Keynsham High Street taken a step back for review? The officer explained that the step back was needed to assess the delivery possibility within the timescales. The ‘review’ is not a stop, work has not started yet due to the lockdown.

Councillor Bromley raised the following points. Officer responses are shown in italics:

·  People will queue outside shops in the current weather, but this may be more of a problem in the Autumn and Winter.

·  Some parking spaces for disabled people have been removed – please keep ward Councillors informed of this. We are aware of the impact of the removal of disabled access parking, we are looking at more blue badge parking and disabled access parking in the city, we are having meetings with accessibility groups.

Councillor Dr Kumar raised the following points. Officer responses are shown in italics:

·  Do we have visitor numbers for the Holbourne Museum and Roman Baths? The Roman Baths had 3,700 visitors as of 6^th July which is above the target that was set. It is online booking only and running at 30% capacity. Advance tickets for 5,400 have been sold for next week. There is an increase in resident’s bookings.

·  The decision has been made to keep the Victoria Art Gallery (VAG) and Assembly Rooms (AR) closed until March 2021 – is it too early to make this decision? The Internal Recovery Board has to assess whether we are financially able to open a premises. We cannot afford to open the VAG or AR yet.

Councillor O’Brien asked about the staff who would usually work in the VAG and AR. The officer explained that these staff are working in the Roman Baths instead of the usual seasonal workers.

Councillor Craig stated that she welcomed a relaxation on regulations regarding tables and chairs outside of cafes but asked that this be monitored as it can be an equalities issue. She also mentioned that she has asked the public realm team for a map which shows blue badge areas and loading areas. The officer explained that some residential parking bays may be repurposed to use for blue badge parking and that a map can be produced once these decisions have been made.

Councillor Craig asked about universities as they make a huge difference to the footfall of pubs and nightclubs. The officer said that she would be in touch with universities in terms of what their expectations of numbers are, this could also be picked up at the economy board.

The Panel RESOLVED that their above comments be passed on to inform the Cabinet.