Agenda item

The Committee considered a report on the Council’s Five Year Strategy and the Annual Plan for the period 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018. The Strategy had been agreed by the Council in August 2016 and had subsequently been refreshed. Both the Strategy and Plan had previously been considered by the Executive on 7 March 2017.

In response to questions submitted prior to the meeting, the following information was reported to the Committee:

    (i)        Consultants had already been engaged to work up proposals to take forward the refurbishment and rebranding of the Mall shopping centre in Camberley

  (ii)        The previous planning application for Pembroke House, Frimley Road had been the subject of a large petition and had been refused. However, this had been in relation to a large supermarket occupying the ground floor and issues around a lack of amenity space. No complaints had been received in respect of the affordable housing. A new planning application would be submitted and considered in due course.

 (iii)        Proposals to improve the public spaces across the town centre starting with Princess Way and the High Streetwere based on the Public Realm Strategy. The Council had recently submitted applications to the EM3 Local Enterprise Partnership to improve the public realm for both areas, including measures to resurface the public footway and seating areas in Princess Way and resurfacing the High Street and pavement to make them more pedestrian friendly. The Camberley Town Centre Working Group was working with businesses to deliver projects to improve the High Street.

 (iv)        The Borough formed part of a functional economic area with Rushmoor and Hart and, in developing the respective Local Plans, each Council would ensure that there was enough strategic employment sites and would have strategic policies in their Local Plans to allow Growth.These policies were monitored through annual Authorities Monitoring Reports, this Council’s report being monitored by the Executive.The Council’s Economic Development Strategy also sets out measures used by the Council to work with both public and private partners to promote and assist with the delivery of economic growth.

  (v)        Measures to encourage inward investment were set out in the Economic Development Strategy, which was aligned with the growth strategies of both Surrey County Council and the EM3 LEP.

Inward investment was encouraged in a number of ways, including ‘Open for Business’, which included working with small companies, business associations and key account management for the larger employers in the Borough.

A report on economic activity was submitted to the Executive annually and the main measure of success would be an increase in the total business rates collected and the Council Tax Base.

 (vi)        The Council was working with the Yorktown and Watchmoor Business Association and had submitted an application to the EM3 LEP to develop a new bus route to link trains and buses with the Business Parks, which were currently not served by public transport. This would include transport and infrastructure improvements and was an example of a direct way in which the Council was working with businesses to deliver improvements. The Council was also working with SCC to achieve improvements to the A30 Meadows Gyratory.

(vii)        Encouraging new developments to strengthen the local economy would be achieved by allocating sites for development (residential, employment, retail) through the Local Plan, examples including potential developments such as Fairoaks, Deepcut and One Public Estate initiatives.

(viii)        It was confirmed that 100% of the new housing in Pembroke House would be affordable.  Subject to agreement with the Housing Association on the best mix, of the 25 Units proposed, 15 would be one-bedroom units.

The Executive Head of Transformation also undertook to provide, where possible, more specific detail on how each matter raised was being measured.

The Chairman noted that previous versions of the Annual Plan had carried significant detail and that this version was designed to be more user friendly for members of the public.

Resolved, that the report be noted.