Amendment by the Residents’ Group NOT CARRIED by 33 votes to 13; deemed motion by the Administration AGREED without division.
Councillor Robert Benham, Cabinet member for Environment, introduced the report
Cabinet was reminded that it had considered and agreed the Romford Market Transformation Programme report on 18 November. Cabinet was informed that this decision had subsequently been requisitioned and that on 8 December it had come before the Overview & Scrutiny Board where the requisition was upheld.
Cabinet was therefore invited to review its earlier decision in the light of the Board’s findings and recommendations and to decide whether to accept those findings and as a consequence set aside its earlier decision or to proceed with the earlier decision and provide reasons for so doing.
Cabinet:
1. Resolved to proceed with its original decision of 18 November 2015 (see appendix attached) because:
· Romford Market was a significant part of the Town’s heritage and its survival was the reason that Cabinet members fully supported the new vision for it as presented to Cabinet in November.
· Doing nothing was not an option. The borough’s residents, visitors and traders deserved a market that was thriving and catered for their needs. There was a significant call for change and the November report had been presented in order to allow the Council to pursue this.
· The November report had made clear that any investment of Council capital in the programme would be subject to the provision of more detailed information including a comprehensive and viable business plan.
· Cabinet anticipated that further reports would come forward as the programme developed and Cabinet was desirous to have the input from Overview and Scrutiny in that process.
· Both Cabinet and officers accepted that more detail would have been advantageous in the November report and accepted the Overview and Scrutiny Board’s comments on that, but that report had been presented with the intention of providing the broad vision of the programme and of securing the necessary funding ahead of detailed planning.
· The imperative was that the Council needed to act immediately to secure the funding from the London Regeneration Fund for the programme to commence.
· Cabinet remained committed to working with and supporting the traders of Romford Market and it was to pursue this policy that the November report had been submitted and accepted.
Appendix
Extract from Cabinet Minute 26 - 18 November 2015
Cabinet:
1. Endorsed the main proposals developed with the assistance of consultants 20:20 Ltd, as identified in section 4 of the report and tasked officers to progress implementation.
2. Authorised officers to engagewith traders, retailers and partners in the delivery of the changes described in the report.
3. Delegated authority to the Group Director of Communities and Resources in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment to finalise the grant application for capital investment in the market to the Mayor of London’s London Regeneration fund.
4. Delegated authority to the Cabinet Member for Environment and the Group Director of Communities and Resources to submit further funding applications (e.g. Veolia and HLF) or to other funding sources relating to the market and Market Place consistent with the programme outlined in the report.
5. Noted the appointment of architects to cost and develop full proposals for the physical development of the Market Place and to recommend to Council the allocation of £1m Council capital funding of the programme subject to securing sufficient match-funding from other sources subject to a business case being signed off by the Finance Business Partner and Group Director, Communities & Resources, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment.
6. Agreed to utilise transformational funding to support the market transformation programme as part of the Council’s ‘invest to save’model and authorised the Group Director of Communities and Resources to release funds accordingly, subject to both the Group Director and Finance Business Partner signing-off a business case in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment.
Councillor Robert Benham, Cabinet member for Environment, introduced the report
Cabinet was informed that the report before it outlined proposals for the transformation of Romford Market. These fell under four main headings: branding identity and vision; operational management and business development; physical transformation and improved use of space.
Work on the first three was being initiated. The full physical interventions proposed were subject to the successful award of external funding to match the Council’s proposed investment.
The transformational plan would see a fundamental change in the way Romford Market looked, felt, was managed and operated as well as changes to the Market Place itself and how it would be used on both market and non-market days.
Reasons for the decision:
A revamped market would bring income to the Council and would spur economic activities elsewhere in the town. The Romford Development Framework indicated that Romford was poised for significant future growth with the potential of 3,400 homes, and 23,000 m2 of office and retail space leading to 480 new jobs over the next 10 years. The RDF and findings of the 20:20 study showed that to reach that potential, Romford needed to improve, and this Market Transformation Programme would be fundamental to cementing and growing Romford’s position as a retail and leisure destination.
Other options considered:
Do nothing. Without intervention the market would continue to decline and underperform as a commercial proposition but also as an asset for the Town.
Cabinet:
1. Endorsed the main proposals developed with the assistance of consultants 20:20 Ltd, as identified in section 4 of the report and tasked officers to progress implementation.
2. Authorised officers to engagewith traders, retailers and partners in the delivery of the changes described in the report.
3. Delegated authority to the Group Director of Communities and Resources in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment to finalise the grant application for capital investment in the market to the Mayor of London’s London Regeneration fund.
4. Delegated authority to the Cabinet Member for Environment and the Group Director of Communities and Resources to submit further funding applications (e.g. Veolia and HLF) or to other funding sources relating to the market and Market Place consistent with the programme outlined in the report.
5. Noted the appointment of architects to cost and develop full proposals for the physical development of the Market Place and to recommend to Council the allocation of £1m Council capital funding of the programme subject to securing sufficient match-funding from other sources subject to a business case being signed off by the Finance Business Partner and Group Director, Communities & Resources, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment.
6. Agreed to utilise transformational funding to support the market transformation programme as part of the Council’s ‘invest to save’model and authorised the Group Director of Communities and Resources to release funds accordingly, subject to both the Group Director and Finance Business Partner signing-off a business case in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment.