Agenda item

The Project Manager Place and Prosperity (Exmouth) introduced the report which summarises the outcome of the consultation exercise to determine the key themes and characteristics for successful placemaking in Exmouth town and seafront as discussed at the workshop held with the Delivery Group on the 6^th of April 2022.  The report provides the feedback received from the consultations, online questionnaires, independently carried out face-to-face questionnaires by the South West Research Company, and proposes next steps.

Discussion included:

·        Some Members commented that the dinosaur park is very popular and they would like to see it maintained and extended, perhaps using CIL money.  The park is free to use and important for the community particularly in the context of the cost of living crisis, and needs to be maintained well for reasons of health and safety.  Other Members recognised the appeal of the dinosaur park but noted that Members were not here to pitch for what they want on Queen’s Drive, but were voting on the process.  The Project Manager Place and Prosperity (Exmouth) commented that it was important to look to the whole of Exmouth at what the Council can deliver, based on evidence from the consultation and taking account of the pressures for the whole town, and it was not appropriate to look to develop areas of the area in isolation to others.

·        Members felt it was important to have accessible play equipment for children and young adults, to make Exmouth a welcoming family-friendly destination for all. 

·        One Member commented that workshops and consultations had taken place before for over ten years, and people were losing faith.  Another Member remarked that a huge amount of work had taken place over the past two years to get to a good place; Exmouth is a major town in the south west and there was a huge amount of work still to do to fulfil and deliver a proper vision for the town and seafront.

·        The Finance Director would be asked to set out to Cabinet where £100k of the proposed £160k budget will come from.  It was noted that £60k is available from the original £200k allocated by Members for staffing resources to support Exmouth Placemaking.

·        The suggested £160k budget is based on previous work that the Project Manager Place and Prosperity (Exmouth) has done on the size and scale of this nature. There is likely to be a cocktail of ways of financing delivery of the placemaking plan.

·        One Member suggested allocating a further £50k in the budget to facilitate full delivery of what is required.  Another Member felt it was not appropriate to allocate additional funding, without knowing what it is for. 

·        Cllr Armstrong stated that she gave her apologies for the 20 June 2022 Stakeholder Consultation meeting but this was not recorded in the minutes that had been published as appendix.  The Project Manager Place and Prosperity (Exmouth) stated he would make a correction to the minutes accordingly.

·        The Project Manager Place and Prosperity (Exmouth) confirmed a procurement exercise would take place for the professional consultants to develop terms of reference, taking account of a range of skill sets including experience with placemaking, design and engineering, and a demonstrable track record.

·        Individual traders had been identified and consulted, or invited to engage in consultation, to provide their views for development of the site at Queen’s Drive.  This included the tenants of the Harbour View café, the current tenants of the former play park, and the amusements.

·        Some Members would like to see a space on Queen’s Drive for Exmouth’s very talented musicians and buskers.

Members of the Group accepted the results of the consultations (noting that not all the suggestions fall within East Devon District Council’s statutory remit and those that do will have to be prioritised in terms of deliverability and budget availability.

RECOMMENDED to Cabinet:

1.     That the results of the consultation are accepted and that they be used to appoint a professional team to develop a terms of reference and a plan for a Placemaking Strategy for Exmouth Town and Seafront.

2.     To request a budget of £160k from Full Council to develop the Placemaking Strategy which will include a Habitat Regulations Assessment.

Reason for recommendations:

·        To agree with the results of the public consultation and the next steps before a further report back to the Delivery Group and Cabinet setting out Terms of Reference for Placemaking in Exmouth in the first half of 2023.

·        To progress placemaking in Exmouth Town and Seafront.