Agenda item

Officers summarised the published slide deck and highlighted the significant points to Members such what would be delivered and when throughout the two phases of work.

It was said that last year the Government had granted £94.7m to develop the first phase of infrastructure which included the three new train station entrances.  Work was about to start on the new Eastern Entrance.

There were some key decisions coming up soon, especially with regards to strategic priorities, the University of Bristol Campus and the Joint Delivery Vehicle (JDV).  A paper would be going to Cabinet in November that would include a series of recommendations for approval on the JDV that would drive the programme forward next year.

The comprehensive programme of public engagement would continue, and work was ongoing with local communities.  Officers said they would also provide member briefings ahead of the November Cabinet Paper.

A Member commented that it didn’t say anywhere in the papers that the Joint Venture (JV) was actually a ‘company’, and that point should have been made clearer in the papers.  What risks was the Council taking on by entering into the JV and what risks was it reducing.  Officers said an agreement had been made last October and that it had been anticipated that it would be formalised into a company.  However, once the  Cabinet paper confirmed what the arrangements would be, it would be easier to answer questions on the benefits and risks.

It was suggested there needed to be additional community engagement in Lawrence Hill and this should be carried out by trained community development workers and local organisations.  Officers said they were aware and in agreement, and it was already a priority area for engagement. A specific engagement programme was being developed and trained community practitioners would be working in the area.  Currently this was mostly awareness raising but if Members were aware of events that they could attend or they thought could be run locally, to please let them know.  A Member said there was a danger that much of this would be seen as ‘gentrification’ but officers seemed to have already understood that which they said was positive.

It was confirmed that the Joint Delivery Vehicle (JTV) would be established and begin in earnest in January 2024.  Members asked what the role and scope of Delivery Partner would be. It was said they would work on Phase 1 but they would be going to procurement for this during 2024.  The Partner will be required to work fast and deliver a very high-quality public realm.

The timescales for the two phases of work were discussed.  It was said that having the transport infrastructure in place before further developing the area was the best way forward.  This was a crucial part of the development and was partly why it was so important to appointment a Master Planner as early as possible. 

A Member enquired about the reported biodiversity net loss and how planning policy required the developer (the council) to offset this and create a 10% net gain. Was it known yet which parks and/or greenspaces this would be carried out in? Officers said the project was seeking to identify where this would be and has received an extension to its planning condition to enable sites to be identified within the Bristol area. Officers agreed to report back to the Commission when there is further information.

Action: Officers to report back and confirm which parks and/or greenspaces have been agreed upon to create the 10% biodiversity net gain.  

At this point a Member asked officers they could respond to a point raised by Suzanne Audrey during Public Forum earlier in the meeting about the future of the Grosvenor Hotel and the adjacent row of bus stops. 

The Executive Director said there had been a court order saying that the building had to be made safe.  The schedule to complete that is now out of date and the work has not been carried out. The Council are in ongoing discussions with the owner. Ultimately the council, through its enforcement control function, could carry out the works itself but would rather not do that because obviously it's the responsibility of the owner and there are issues with costs.  There was also a survey being conducted to ascertain if there are bats living in the building.  The results of that survey were due any day.  Any action would depend on the outcome of that survey.  

Members enquired about the future of the fruit market.  Officers confirmed it was privately owned and that they did want it to be part of the master plan.  It was yet to be determined how it fitted in with the wider area.  A proactive conversation would be had with the owners about how it’s brought forward, so it could deliver in line with what they would what we want to see happen there. 

The Chair highlighted the University of Bristol plot at Temple Quarter and that he understood they would be installing a large quantum computer that would therefore generate some considerable heat.  Were the City Leap officers looking at the potential opportunities and going to be using it to provide either cooling or heat for the rest of the area?  Officers said they were working with both City Leap and the University to maximise all the opportunities.  The Director said he thought that was a good idea but wasn’t aware of the two things being joined up, but he would look into that.