Issue - meetings

Report of Assistant Director – Growth and Economy

Purpose of report

To establish a workstream to set a sustainable vision for Banbury town centre and its environs through to 2050. Recognising that post pandemic, the retail sector has significantly changed and for town centres there needs to be a changed dynamic. Establishing what change is required, is an essential first step in developing a new vision.

To do this it is proposed to undertake a comprehensive consultation and engagement exercise with residents, businesses, and visitors in the fourth quarter of 2022-23 which will then inform the programme going forward in 2023-24 and onwards.

The purpose of this will be to establish what is performing well, what is performing not so well, and what stakeholders would like to see more of in their town centre with particular regard to filling the void left by retail in the current and anticipated medium term future for the town.

It is expected that the initial engagement exercise will set a bar for stakeholder expectations which will then lead to the commissioning of a series of evidence bases, modelling and development appraisals to understand and inform the ability to deliver the emerging vision. An increased emphasis on more sustainability, stronger cultural offers, increased “meanwhile” uses are expected through engagement, as will stronger employment options, opening of spaces, improved connectivity, and alternative use of retail space.

Recommendations

The meeting is recommended:

1.1       To approve the outline programme governance arrangements for the Banbury Vision 2050 Programme Board and Terms of Reference (see Appendix 1).

1.2       To approve the initiation of consultation & engagement on Banbury Vision 2050.

1.3       To approve proceeding with the appointment of consultants  for community consultation and engagement.

Resolved

(1)           That the outline programme governance arrangements for the Banbury Vision 2050 Programme Board and Terms of Reference be approved.

(2)           That the initiation of consultation and engagement on Banbury Vision 2050 be approved.

(3)           That proceeding with the appointment of consultants  for community consultation and engagement be approved.

The Assistant Director – Growth and Economy submitted a report to establish a workstream to set a sustainable vision for Banbury town centre and its environs through to 2050.

Recognising that post pandemic, the retail sector had significantly changed and for town centres there needed to be a changed dynamic so establishing what change was required, was an essential first step in developing a new vision. To do this it was proposed to undertake a comprehensive consultation and engagement exercise with residents, businesses, and visitors in the fourth quarter of 2022-23 which would then inform the programme going forward in 2023-24 and onwards.

The purpose of this would be to establish what was performing well, what was performing not so well, and what stakeholders would like to see more of in their town centre with particular regard to filling the void left by retail in the current and anticipated medium term future for the town.

It was expected that the initial engagement exercise would set a bar for stakeholder expectations which would then lead to the commissioning of a series of evidence bases, modelling and development appraisals to understand and inform the ability to deliver the emerging vision. An increased emphasis on more sustainability, stronger cultural offers, increased “meanwhile” uses were expected through engagement, as would stronger employment options, opening of spaces, improved connectivity, and alternative use of retail space.

In introducing the report, the Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Regeneration and Economy advised that Banbury Town Council representatives would be involved in the Board and the officer working group with representatives from Cherwell District Council and Oxfordshire County Council.  

Resolved

(1)          That the outline programme governance arrangements for the Banbury Vision 2050 Programme Board and Terms of Reference be approved.

(2)          That the initiation of consultation and engagement on Banbury Vision 2050 be approved.

(3)          That proceeding with the appointment of consultants  for community consultation and engagement be approved.

Reasons

This report is the first of a series which will update Executive on Banbury Vision 2050 progress to March 2024, and beyond.

The reason for recommendation 1 is that to progress the regeneration on Banbury, robust governance arrangements are required to make sure that the necessary connections and synergies are made to drive effective delivery. Recommendation 2 kicks starts the conversation and process of ensuring the ‘buy-in’ of the community into this future. Recommendation 3 gives the authority to proceed on recommendation 2.

Alternative options

Option 1: Do nothing – this is not an option. Doing nothing runs the risk of not delivering on strategic priorities and Banbury not being regenerated and left behind with impaired prosperity.