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'Barnard Castle Vision-One North East Meetings'.
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BARNARD CASTLE VISION STEERING GROUP MEETING
Fri 13th April 2007
Minutes
Attendees
Neil Stokell Teesdale DC
Shaun Stuart LSP Economic Theme Group
Kirsten Francis One North East
Sue Berresford Teesdale DC
Trevor Watson Teesdale DC
Andrew Walker Durham County Council
Bob Ward Durham County Council
Deborah Jenkins Independent
Simon Owens LSP
Steve Potter EKOS Consulting
Andrew Lord EKOS Consulting
Apologies
David Blackie Teesdale Marketing
Kate Culverhouse LSP
Amanda Dowdy One North East
Trevor Honeyman Enterprise Agency
Item 1 The Consultation Process
EKOS provided an overview of the consultation process, which was also emailed prior to the meeting. A summary of each of the events was provided, along with details of some of the key points / interesting findings arising from the consultations.
Whilst a broad range of people were given the opportunity to provide feedback on the draft vision in line with the arrangements agreed at the last steering group meeting, it was agreed that attendance was slightly less than at the original consultation stage. This was put down to a range of factors, primarily the short notice for this round of consultation due to the election purdah restrictions, an element of consultation fatigue and people simply being more willing and keen to be involved at the initial stage.
Action - EKOS will insert a summary of the consultation process into the Final Vision document and will take into account the findings from the consultations when making final amendments to the report.
Item 2 Final Amendments to the Draft Vision Document
EKOS prepared a list which set out a series of proposed amendments that may be made to the final report in light of the consultation process and other recent developments. The list was discussed with the Steering Group.
Most of the changes were relatively minor and were agreed by the group, whilst it was also agreed that a few were not as relevant. The Steering Group were also asked to provide their views on other changes which should be made.
Action - EKOS will make the agreed final amendments to the vision report, before doing a full and final proof of the document. The report will then be emailed to the Steering Group and placed on partners' websites as a final document.
Item 3 Presentation and Discussion of the Teesdale Economic Strategy / Employment Land Review
EKOS presented a summary of the Draft Teesdale Economic strategy and Employment Land review to partners for comment. A brief discussion followed involving initial feedback and suggested amendments.
The main amendments to be made to the draft report would involve:
Specific reference to assisting micro businesses;
Further information about tourism;
Further reference to the strategic importance of broadband usage;
The need to incorporate arts specific recommendations;
Amendments to the St Peters description in the Employment Land Review;
The need to reconsider whether there is actually a lack of demand or whether it is more a case of the nature of specific sites; and
Finalising the conclusions and recommendations.
A discussion was held regarding the consultation process which should occur on this document. It was agreed that public consultation would be counter-productive in light of the substantial community consultation which has recently occurred. However it was necessary to gain formal feedback from key partners so that the document could legitimately form part of the evidence base for the LDF process.
Action - EKOS will make amendments to the draft report before emailing to the Steering Group for formal comment.
Action - Steering Group members should email comments to EKOS by Fri 4th May.
Action - Arrangements will be made in conjunction with TDC (SB in particular) to email the document to partners / key stakeholders to gain formal feedback from a wider group on the document.
Action - Once the above feedback has been obtained EKOS will finalise the document which will be used as part of the district's evidence base in the LDF process (provided that the scope of the document does not change from its current format).
Item 4 Next Steps, Timetable, AOB
There was a brief discussion about the delivery mechanisms for the Vision and the prioritisation of certain projects. It was agreed that the Steering Group would meet without EKOS to consider any changes which should be proposed to the stage 1 delivery report and also the implementation plan.
Action - EKOS will email the initial stage 1 delivery report and the delivery framework table to the Steering Group who will discuss and prioritise projects and delivery arrangements at a time to be agreed over the next few weeks.
As agreed at the previous Steering Group meeting, EKOS sent an invoice to TDC for the additional consultation work and Steering Group meetings undertaken. This was passed on to Durham CC and the Single Programme team who would be making a decision on the matter.
Action - EKOS will liaise with AW / BW at Durham CC to resolve the issue of payment for the additional work undertaken.
In addition to the meeting of the Steering Group to discuss the delivery arrangements / priority projects, it was agreed that one further Steering Group meeting would be required with EKOS to finalise any outstanding business in relation to the whole contract.
Action - EKOS will liaise with Sue Berresford to arrange for a final Steering Group Meeting.
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