Issue - decisions

(1) To APPROVE the allocation of the remaining £340,000 of capital funds as follows:

(a) Economic Development

·  £135,000 to support the work of the Radstock and Westfield Economic Development Forum.

·  £15,000 towards the provision of Heritage signage in Radstock.

(b) Community Facilities

·  £50,000 for investment into additional community facilities.  The recipients of this investment are to be identified through a competitive bidding process.

(c) Streets, Highways and Public realm

·  £140,000 for investment into streets, highways and public realm initiatives to enable projects identified by Highways/Traffic Management and facilitate initiatives suggested through the community consultation process. 

(d) The Radstock & Westfield Economic Development Forum oversees and manages the delivery of an economic development action plan of interventions, aimed at increasing economic and social/ community growth in Radstock and Westfield. The forum is made up of local and B&NES Councillors, business representatives, Radstock Town Team, Writhlington School and Norton Radstock College

(e) In order to ensure a fair and equitable distribution of the funds, Officers recommend that a clear set of criteria, terms & conditions and an appropriate scoring matrix are developed with the Radstock and Westfield Economic Development Forum, and a competitive, open bidding process is administered by officers to distribute the Economic Development allocation over the next year.

(f) Officers also recommend that the £50,000 towards additional community facilities should also be awarded through a competitive bidding process. A clear set of criteria, terms & conditions and an appropriate scoring matrix will also need to be developed to support this process.