Agenda item

Councillor Neil Murray, Portfolio Holder for Planning Policy and Economic Regeneration, presented Council with a report on the work of his portfolio.

Some members expressed their disappointment that the report did not include more detail considering the significance of the projects referred to in the document.

It was noted that Councillor Murray had recently attended a meeting of the Performance Scrutiny Committee where he was questioned in depth about the matters included in the report, which he answered fully and provided significant updates on.

Councillor Murray had purposely written the report to be brief and welcomed the opportunity to answer questions on any of the projects he had included. The following updates were noted:

·         Western Growth Corridor – all members had been invited to attend briefings and had been given the opportunity to keep themselves updated on the status of this scheme. The project remained vitally important for the Council in terms of the building of new houses for people to live in and better leisure facilities for people to enjoy in the city;

·         Parking in Lincoln and the Transport Hub – the Central Lincoln car park was now open, which gave the city the car parking capacity it needed. The new Transport Hub was also progressing well and would be a vast improvement to the previous bus station. Improvements to the Sincil Street and Cornhill area by the Co-operative were progressing extremely well and were an excellent example of how buildings could be knocked down but the historic value of the area retained for a more modern use and purpose;

·         Regeneration in Park Ward – no plans had been agreed at this stage, but Councillor Murray was hopeful that solid projects would soon be put in place that people in the ward and community would be able to support. The area was currently used as a free car park for commuters or visitors to the city, which he hoped the County Council would assist with addressing as part of this regeneration;

·         Christmas market – the Christmas market was due to open on 7 December 2017 and the Council’s officers committed a huge amount of time to ensure the market was a success. Councillor Murray was confident that this year’s Christmas market would deliver its usual high standards, noting that this year’s costs would be greater than expected due to additional security measures which were unfortunately unavoidable in the current climate;

·         Heritage – the Council was continuing to do what it could to protect its historic environment. The City of Lincoln Council would be the first authority in the country to adopt the ARCADE system which would provide the public with online access to heritage data, including records of historic buildings, archaeological discoveries, historic maps and a library of photographs and reports. The Council’s conservation areas had not been reviewed for some considerable time so consideration would soon be given to the conversation area ‘character zones’. The Council had been successful in enforcing planning law in relation to a historic building and the Council was in the process of trying to bring another into occupation. Councillor Murray emphasised that officers were being vigilant in respect of historic buildings.

Council noted the update.