Agenda item

Interview with Councillor Malcolm Greer, Cabinet Member for Economic and Commercial Development.

Councillor Malcolm Greer, the Cabinet Member for Economic and Commercial Development, was invited to speak on item 8: Cabinet Member for Economic and Commercial Development Review of the Year 2013/2014.

Councillor Greer explained the progress within his portfolio over the previous year, which included:

·  High Street Regeneration Phase 2, which was completed on time and on budget.

·  High Street Regeneration Phase 1, which had been handed over to Kent County Council to maintain as they were the Highway Authority.

·  Cllr Greer was in the process of making arrangements to ensure utility companies repaired the High Street in a timely manner after any necessary works.

·  Consultations (with the public and businesses) and feasibility studies were underway for further regeneration work on Gabriels Hill, Earl Street and Week Street.

·  The arrangements being made to use a local company for all repairs to the High Street.

·  Kent Institute of Medicine and Surgery (KIMS) was opened on 2^nd April 2014 by the Duke of Gloucester. The first operation was scheduled for the 1^st May 2014. This brought 800 jobs to Maidstone, and 25% of procedures undertaken would be for NHS patients.

·  KIMS Phase 2 was underway, called the Maidstone Medical Campus (MMC). Outline planning permission had been agreed and the Section 106 agreement was currently being negotiated. This was a £230 million development, and would provide 3,000 jobs in Maidstone.

·  The deal to regenerate Wrens Cross fell through, as Kent County Council (the site owner) and the developer could not come to an agreement.

·  The commercialism agenda. It was explained the main areas under consideration were:

o  How to utilise the assets the council already had;

o  How and when the council could become financially self- sufficient; and

o  What investments could be made to ensure this happened.

·  The Committee were informed that the Cabinet Member had been visiting businesses, and the one thing that stood out was the difficulty in these businesses being able to recruit skilled individuals to help them grow.

It was explained that the new Cultural Services Manager was in place at the Museum and in terms of the Visitor Economy the following achievements were highlighted:

·  New signage had been installed in the town;

·  A coach drop off point near the museum was operational; and

·  The Visitor Information Centre won an award.

In terms of charitable work, the following work had been undertaken:

·  Vinci helped build a garden at Heather House; and

·  Blackthorn Trust have opened a new clinic room for ex service personnel. A £5,000 grant from Maidstone Borough Council helped to contribute towards the funding for this room.

Councillor Greer then took questions from the Committee.

The Committee were surprised that the consultation and feasibility study for the regeneration of Earl Street were only just about to take place, as it had been spoken about for some time.

Councillor Greer responded that as there was not a proposed regeneration scheme in place, the Council had missed out on Section 106 funding from the Next development at Junction 7 of the M20. This had focused everyone’s minds in the Economic Development Department to have proposed regeneration schemes ready for implementation. This would be so that when the next major development was proposed the council could secure funding through Section 106 funds.

Councillor Greer suggested that draft sketches of the proposed Earl Street scheme should be circulated to the committee.

In response to a question from the Committee, Councillor Greer assured the Committee that the council had a ready supply of granite blocks for any repairs that were needed for the High Street.

The Committee asked Councillor Greer for information on how the high street faired in terms of foot fall, particularly in comparison to other high streets in Kent and regionally. Councillor Greer informed the Committee that this information could be supplied to the Committee at a later date.

The Committee enquired about whether there was any progress with regeneration work at the Maidstone East train station site. Councillor Greer responded that whilst there were proposals in place for the regeneration of the site, there needed to be an anchor store (such as a large food chain) to commit to make it viable. However, there are questions to be asked by the Council on whether Council funds should be invested to make a regeneration project viable.

The committee asked whether there had been any progress in putting some visitor information back in the town hall. Councillor Greer stated that this was the responsibility of the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services, so could not speak on his behalf.

The Committee thanked Cllr Greer for his update.

RESOLVED: That

a)  Information on footfall on the High Street, as well as comparative figures for Kent and regionally, be circulated to the committee;

b)  Draft sketches of the Earl Street regeneration scheme be circulated to the committee; and

c)  A progress update be requested from Councillor Moss around provision of visitor information at the Town Hall.

Councillor Stockell left the meeting during this item at 19:34.