Members of the PORTAS Group will be in attendance to answer questions, at the request of the Committee.
Minutes:
The Chairman welcomed members of the PORTAS Executive, Cllr S Griggs, Mr P Young, Mr M Freeman and Mrs B Lester, to the meeting and explained that it was within the role of the Scrutiny Committee to look at organisations in receipt of public money in order to give them an opportunity to be accountable.
Cllr Mrs Griggs outlined the vision of PORTAS which was to regenerate the town centre and bring vitality to the town. Tiverton had been awarded funding in the second tranche of awards with the aim of turning around an unloved and underused high street. Cllr Griggs stated that she believed that this had happened and that that town had received an uplift in the last 5 years with more events taking place. This was not just due to PORTAS but she considered that the apathy that was previously in the town had now gone and that the work undertaken had proved that the town could shine.
Cllr Griggs informed the Committee that the Group had achieved over 50 areas of improvement to help improve footfall in the town. Original plans were to improve car parking, set up a coach park, an attractions pass, a shoppers loyalty scheme, new town signage and an internet shopping pick up location for the town.
Group members had tried to set up an attractions pass but this had not proved to be successful and the shoppers loyalty scheme had not taken off. Internet shopping pick up locations were now in place, as was the coach parking bay. Cllr Griggs did not consider that the recent changes to parking fees would help. New welcoming signs had been placed at the major entrances to the town. Ongoing work included the implementation of a hand map, a town centre colouring book and the CreaTIV hub shop continued to prove to be popular. A Cooperative shop for local artists that PORTAS set up in the town had proved successful in show casing local talent and had resulted in several artists going on to open their own shops and exhibitions.
The group were asked who their members were and how they were selected. Cllr Griggs explained that initially they were a group of 4 volunteers who wanted to see Tiverton prosper. There was now a team of 5 with other volunteers that could be called on for specific events. Cllr Griggs added that the group would work with anyone, were continually asking people to join and were open to this. She explained that the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) had approved their method of working with a small team when other areas with larger teams had failed.
When asked about the relationships between the group with Tiverton Town Council, with Mid Devon District Council and with the Town Centre Manager Mr Young stated that they were in regular contact with Town Centre Manager and that three of their members were also Town Councillors so communication with them was good. Mr Young said that they would like to work more with these groups and asked if there was a Business Improvement District (BID) available. The Head of Communities and Governance explained that a number of local businesses had joined to form a group and had set up a Town Centre Partnership. She explained that there was a need for buy-in from local business to move forward with the BID and the local businesses concerned did not feel that they wanted to pursue this at the current time. Mr Young stated that PORTAS would be pleased to meet with all of these groups. The Head of Communities confirmed that the Town Centre Manager was working hard to bring these groups together. She also informed the Committee that herself and the Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration were in regular contact with these groups.
Discussion took place regarding car parking charges and the Chairman of the Audit Committee informed the Committee that since April vends had seen an increase of over 2500 on last year in Tiverton car parks and that income had increased by £11k. Dwell time was discussed.
Cllr Griggs stated that concessionary parking had been agreed for the Food Market events arranged for Saturday evenings in the summer but had not been made available for PORTAS events. The Leader of the Council pointed out that concessionary parking was provided in the lead up to Christmas.
Cllr Griggs confirmed that there was £39,820 remaining in the PORTAS funds and that spend was planned for the Feast of St James and the literary festival. A community radio station was an ongoing project, there were plans in place for a Christmas event/winter festival, signage for Westexe, a hand map and an art trail which was being discussed in liaison with the Mid Devon Museum.
The Chairman thanked the group for the good work they had undertaken.