Agenda item

Report from the Strategic Director of Regeneration and Environment.

Recommendations:

1.    That Cabinet approves the Towns and Villages programme as detailed in this paper and delegates the delivery of category 1 schemes within the programme to the Strategic Director of Regeneration and Environment, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Jobs and the Local Economy, and the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood Working.

2.    That Cabinet receives a further report to update on the delivery of category 1 schemes and agree to progress to delivery of category 2 and 3 schemes in Summer 2022.

Consideration was given to the report which explained that the Towns and Villages Fund was a new £4m Capital Programme in Rotherham which aimed to improve the Borough’s local town and village centres. Based on projects put forward by Ward Councillors in consultation with their communities, a work programme and associated processes for delivering projects had been produced. This would ensure a range of projects across the Borough were completed in the next 3 years, delivering on the priorities of residents and Wards.

The overall aim of the scheme is “to work with neighbourhoods across the Borough, to enhance their lived environment, through a variety of improvement projects, focused on town and village centres.” Five objectives were proposed to indicate what the programme of work could deliver. By late December 2021 the schemes that had been submitted for consideration had been moderated against the aims and objectives. The schemes were then separated into 4 categories dependent on meeting the objectives of the funding, the complexity of the scheme proposed and the potential cost of the project.

Ward Members had been informed of the outcome of their submissions with those in Categories 1, 2 and 3 moving to the next stage of the programme and individual next steps agreed per project. Those in Category 4 had been invited to resubmit a different work proposal. The drafted work programme for the scheme was attached as Appendix 1 to the report.

It was proposed that those schemes in Category 1, as detailed in paragraph 2.6 of the report, were designed and delivered, subject to any complications, by Autumn 2022. During this time due diligence and further engagement would be carried out on Category 2 schemes, as detailed in paragraph 2.7 of the report. By Summer 2022 it was expected that concept design work could be carried out on Category 2 schemes along with further engagement on Category 3 schemes. The concept design of Category 3 schemes was expected to commence in Winter 2022.

The report had been considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board as part of the pre-decision scrutiny process and they noted and agreed with the recommendations. They also requested that seminar for all Members be delivered on the Towns and Villages Fund.

Resolved:-

1.    That Cabinet approve the Towns and Villages programme as detailed in the report and delegate the delivery of Category 1 schemes within the programme to the Strategic Director of Regeneration and Environment, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Jobs and the Local Economy, and the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood Working;

2.    That Cabinet receive a further report to update on the delivery of Category 1 schemes and agree to progress delivery of Category 2 and 3 schemes in Summer 2022; and

3.    That seminar for all Members be delivered on the Towns and Villages Fund.