Agenda item

Socio-economic programme - High Road West regeneration scheme

DEFERRED FROM PREVIOUS MEETING - To provide more details to the Panel about the £10m programme for social and economic support for businesses and residents to be provided by the developer Lendlease as part of the High Road West regeneration scheme.

 

Minutes:

Dan Hawthorn, Director of Housing, Regeneration & Planning, introduced the report on this item which had been deferred from the previous meeting of the Panel in September 2019 due to lack of time. He said that, in the context of the wider development agreement between the Council and Lendlease for the High Road West scheme, there was a commitment from Lendlease to commit £10m to a programme of socio-economic interventions in the local area in acknowledgement of the disruptions and opportunities associated with the scheme. This programme is structured around five thematic headings set out in paragraph 2.9 of the report. However, as the development scheme is currently being reworked, the work on the socio-economic programme has been paused so a greater level of detail on how the £10m will be spent is not yet available.

 

In response to questions from the Panel, Dan Hawthorn said:

·         That the use of the funding is expected to spread out over the life of the scheme at roughly £1m per year over 10 years.

·         That as this work is paused the Council does not want to make assumptions about what the scheme will look like as the scheme could change.

·         That as with any major development scheme there would typically be both significant S106/CIL contributions as well as direct investments in infrastructure and this additional £10m is part of the bidding approach from the developer as well as a recognition of the complex social and economic problems in Tottenham that would benefit from additional investment. It is important that this investment it spent in a way that aligns with the Council’s priorities and vision for the area and Lendlease have been happy to accept this.

·         The status of the scheme is that the development agreement between the Council and Lendlease has been formally agreed by Cabinet.

·         That he was determined that the £10m from the programme shouldn’t be used as part of the funding requirement for the extra Council homes on the site and that it should be kept for the purposes for which it was originally intended. That would be to mix the two things up and so the need for new Council homes should be met through the grant from the Mayor of London.

·         That it is a fundamental principle of the Council’s approach to the scheme is that it should be based on and constantly refined as a result of engagement with residents and the wider stakeholder community while being balanced with the Council’s priorities as defined in the Borough Plan. This is a long-term commitment to recognise a range of different perspectives with the ‘stakeholder community’ including people who are resident in the area, people running businesses in the area and people who use services and businesses in the area.  

·         That it is reasonable to look at the scheme in the context of the Council’s approach to business support and community wealth building and this will need to be an element of the work to ensure that the Council’s priorities are reflected in the scheme.

·         On how the membership High Road West Community Impact Group was selected he said that details about this would be provided to the Panel in writing. (ACTION)

 

Cllr Barnes commented that the Enabling Healthy Lives theme in paragraph 2.13 of the report refers to the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and entrepreneurship to build self-esteem but should also include cultural subjects. Dan Hawthorn said that he would take this point away to consider.

 

Cllr Stone said that the Physical Changes theme in paragraph 2.15 of the report refers to setting out the aspiration to ensuring that delivering better socio-economic outcomes is embedded into the to the physical design of the scheme. He commented that these outcomes should be part of the design anyway and questioned what additional benefits the socio-economic programme would bring. Dan Hawthorn said that theme included initiatives such as the refurbishment of the Grange but said that it was a helpful challenge to make sure that this theme is genuinely contributing something additional and that he would take this back to the team.

 

In response to a question about the low level of CIL (£15 per sq/m) that Lendlease would be required to pay, Rob Krzyszowski, Head of Planning Policy, said that a proposed increase in the CIL rate in the east of the Borough, from £15 per sq/m to £50 per sq/m, was reported to the Regulatory Committee on 15th October 2019. It would then be submitted to Cabinet on 12th November 2019. The proposal would also have to go out to consultation. Dan Hawthorn added that it is unlikely that the High Road West planning application would not be subject to the new CIL rate.

 

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