Irvine Town Centre
North Ayrshire Council · 18 September 2024
Back to North Ayrshire Council — 18 September 2024 and its agenda
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NORTH AYRSHIRE COUNCIL 18 September 2024 Council Title: Irvine Town Centre: Long-Term Plan for Towns Purpose: To seek approval of the proposed Elected Member representation on the Irvine Town Board. Recommendation: That Council: a) Notes the Town Board membership provided at Appendix One; b) Approves the appointment of the three Elected Members to the Town Board as outlined at Appendix One; and c) Notes the progress to date to inform the development of a Long-Term Plan. 1. Executive Summary 1.1 On 30 September 2023, the UK Government announced that 55 towns across the UK would benefit from up to £20 million of investment through endowment style funding over a 10-year period. Irvine was identified as one of seven towns in Scotland to benefit from this funding. 1.2 Cabinet approved the acceptance of the award, an interim governance structure and early commencement of work to develop a Long-Term Plan for the investment on 5 December 2023. 1.3 This report provides an update on the appointment of the Irvine Town Board, seeks approval of the proposed Elected Member representation. Further information, including an update on the early work to develop a Long-Term Plan for the investment is also provided. 2. Background 2.1 The UK Government’s Long-Term Plan for Towns Prospectus was published on 1 October 2023. This identified 55 towns as beneficiaries of the fund with a further tranche of 20 towns announced in March 2024. The programme proposes to invest £1.5 billion into the 75 towns across the UK, of which ten are within Scotland. 2.2 The ten Scottish towns are Irvine, Kilmarnock, Greenock, Coatbridge, Clydebank, Dumfries, Elgin, Peterhead, Arbroath and Kirkwall. Towns were selected using the Levelling Up Needs Index methodology. This considered metrics covering skills, pay,
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productivity and health alongside the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), the City and Town Classifications of Constituencies and Local Authorities dataset. 2.3 The Long-Term Plan for Towns seeks to place local people at the heart of the decision-making process and to provide the funding to support delivery. The Town Board are responsible for identifying the issues and priorities on which the Long-Term Plan will focus and supporting a process of ongoing community engagement. It will work with the Local Authority to develop the Plan, setting out how local partners will use their knowledge, powers, assets, and new funding to deliver for their communities. It will also assist in identifying opportunities to secure additional funding or private investment to support the Plan and oversee the delivery of identified projects. 2.4 On 5 December 2023, the Council’s Cabinet approved the acceptance of the award, an interim governance structure and early commencement of work to develop a Long- Term Plan for the investment. This agreed that a sub-group of the Irvine Locality Partnership be formed including the representation outlined in the Prospectus as an interim governance structure. Updates were provided to the Irvine Locality Partnership on the Fund in January 2024, through which agreement was obtained to progress the interim governance approach and formation of the sub-group of the Locality Partnership. 2.5 Further guidance on the Fund has been published including Guidance for Local Authorities and Town Boards and a Policy Toolkit for Scotland. Representation on the Town Board has been informed by this guidance and engagement with the Locality Partnership. Informed by the guidance, it is proposed that three Elected Members, to represent the three Irvine Wards, and nominated substitutes be appointed to the Board. The Board members and the approach to the identification of a Chair are outlined at Appendix One. 2.6 The UK Government initially required the submission of the Long-Term Plan by 1 August 2024. In July 2024, an update was received that this deadline would be extended and formal confirmation of the new submission deadline is awaited. The Long-Term Plan shall comprise a 10-year vision and an initial 3-year investment plan for the Town. 2.7 The first Town Board meeting was held on 1 August 2024. A further meeting was held on 29 August 2024. The Town Board has commenced a consultation exercise for the community and other interested stakeholders. This is being undertaken online and through engagement activities a range of events and venues in the coming weeks and months to maximise the opportunities for participation. The Board will use this to inform the development of the Long-Term Plan alongside previous consultation activities and existing data. 2.8 A report will be taken to the Council’s Cabinet in due course to seek approval for the Plan and agreement to the submission of the Long-Term Plan to UK Government.
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3. Proposals 3.1 That Council: a) Notes the Town Board membership provided at Appendix One; b) Approves the appointment of the three Elected Members to the Town Board as outlined at Appendix One; and c) Notes the progress to date to inform the development of a Long-Term Plan. 4. Implications/Socio-economic Duty Financial 4.1 The total award per town has now been confirmed as £19.509m. The Financial Assistance power under Section 50 of the UK Internal Market Act will be used to fund towns directly. Human Resources 4.2 Additional staff resource is required to support the delivery of the Fund and the development of a Long-Term Plan for Irvine due to the scale and duration of the award. This requirement was considered with the Irvine Locality Partnership. It is proposed that an Irvine Town Centre Officer be recruited in the first instance to support the project, based in the Regeneration team. The cost of this will be met from the funding awarded and recruitment will commence on receipt of formal confirmation of the award. Legal 4.3 The legal implications of the Long-Term Plan for Irvine will be considered through its development and Legal advice taken as necessary. Legal agreements will be developed on a project-by-project basis as required with support from Legal Services. Negotiation in relation to land and building acquisitions will be undertaken as necessary with support from the Council’s Legal Services and Property Management and Investment Service. Equality/Socio-economic 4.4 The Fund aims to support town centre regeneration and promote economic development. This considers metrics covering skills, pay, productivity and health alongside the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation. An initial screening will be undertaken to establish if an Equality and Children’s Rights Impact Assessment is required for individual programme elements on a case-by-case basis. Climate Change and Carbon 4.5 The development of a Long-Term Plan for Irvine will enable the delivery of projects aimed at revitalising Irvine town centre. This could include promoting and improving active travel, reducing vacant and derelict land and carbon reduction measures. This
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aligns with the priorities of the Sustainable North Ayrshire Strategy and the commitment to reduce carbon emissions. Key Priorities 4.6 The development and implementation of a Long-Term Plan for Irvine will support all four of the Council Plan’s priorities and strategic aims of: • Wellbeing: To transition to a wellbeing economy, delivering prosperity, wellbeing and resilience for local people. • Communities and Local Democracy: We will have active, inclusive and resilient communities. • Climate Change: To achieve net-zero by 2030. • A Sustainable Council: A Community Wealth Building Council that is efficient and accessible, maximising investment and focusing resources on our priorities. Community Wealth Building 4.7 The Fund has the local community at the heart of its methodology. It aims to ensure investment is targeted at local priorities and will empower local communities to contribute to the regeneration of the town centre. A Community Wealth Building approach will be adopted to the development of the Long-Term Plan to ensure that its delivery contributes across the pillars of: • Land and Assets: by supporting equitable land development and the development of underutilised assets for community use. • Procurement: through the inclusion of appropriate community benefit of local supplier clauses within projects; and by considering phasing and programming of projects to create local supply chain opportunities and support delivery by smaller scale and local contractors where appropriate. • Fair Employment: by supporting the creation of employment opportunities particularly within the construction sector. Where North Ayrshire is procuring services, through our enhanced Community Benefits approach we will seek to ensure the creation of local training and work experience opportunities. Consideration will also be given to delivery through employability programmes where appropriate. • Financial Power: by investing in the town centre and leveraging additional external investment. 5. Consultation 5.1 The Long-Term Plan for Towns aims to ensure that local people are at the heart of decisions, through direct membership of the Towns Board and through a requirement to engage widely on the long-term plan for each town. The Long-Term Plan for Irvine will therefore be developed through co-production with the Towns Board and extensive engagement with stakeholders. This approach has been informed by engagement with Connected Communities. It will build on work to date, Locality Partnership’s priorities, the Regeneration Delivery Plan and previous consultation exercises. Updates have been provided to the Irvine Locality Partnership on the Fund. Through this agreement was obtained approval for the interim governance approach and
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formation of the sub-group of the Locality Partnership. Representation on the interim Towns Board has been informed by engagement with the Locality Partnership and Connected Communities. RUSSELL McCUTCHEON Executive Director (Place) For further information please contact Claire Fitzsimmons, Interim Senior Manager – Regeneration, on 01294 315305. Background Papers
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Appendix One: Irvine Town Board Membership The Town Board will help co-produce the longer term governance arrangements, structure and membership, consultation and engagement approaches and the programme for the development of the Long-Term Plan for Irvine. This will include reviewing the previous consultation and engagement outputs and identifying requirements for further survey or analysis. The Town Board will prepare the Long-Term Plan for approval by Cabinet in line with the updated submission timescales we are currently awaiting on from UK Government. The membership requirements of the Town Board are set out in the Long-Term Plans for Town Prospectus and Guidance. The following table details the membership for the Town Board. The representatives were identified through engagement with the Locality Partnership and the local interest groups and agencies required by the Prospectus and Guidance. Three Elected Members are proposed to ensure each of the three Irvine wards are represented. Name Organisation Bill Nolan - Chair Irvine Burns Club Chris Pless Irvine Community Council Cllr Nairn McDonald North Ayrshire Council Cllr Matthew McLean North Ayrshire Council Cllr Chloe Robertson North Ayrshire Council Barbara Conner TACT Paul Timmons Scottish Fire and Rescue Fraser Normansell Police Scotland Steven Easton Chamber of Commerce Fiona Paton Rivergate Shopping Centre David Phillips Irvine Seniors Forum David Mann Scottish Maritime Museum Danny Kerr Marymass Festival Committee Emma Burns MSYP - Cunninghame South Freya Fitzsimmons MSYP - Cunninghame South Malcolm McPhail KA Leisure Alan Gemmell MP MP Elaine Baxter North Ayrshire Council The guidance notes that a local community leader or local businessperson must chair Town Boards. The chair should act as a champion for the town and provide leadership for the Town Board, ensuring it is community-led and embedded within the local area. Elected representatives are not permitted to chair the Town Board.