Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Cordiner-Achenbach, Talbot, C Walker, B Walker and Freeman.

Councillor Jeal declared a Pecuniary interest in the item relating to the Kickstart Scheme in light of having employed staff members through the programme.

Councillor Candon declared a personal interest in the item relating to the Kickstart Scheme in his capacity as an employee for a local MP.

The minutes of the meeting held on the 13 September 2021 were confirmed.

Councillor T Wright commented that he had now received figures that he had previously requested regarding clarification on the the creation of 1900 new jobs at the Enterprise Zone.

The Committee received and noted the contents of the Forward Plan.

Members received and considered the Project Manager's report which following endorsement from Members of Economic Development Committee in February 2020 for the delivery of the proposed Great Yarmouth Operations and Maintenance Campus in South Denes (by Norfolk County Council) in support of the offshore energy sector, provided an update to Members on the progress of the project.

The Chairman asked whether the project was financially secure at the present time, the Project Manager confirmed this.

Councillor T Wright asked with regard to the Enterprise Zone and the planning consent from the Local Authority. It was reported that the area in question was covered by a Local Development Order which only covered the land itself and not the development in the river.

Councillor Candon thanked the Officer for attending and stated that he looked forward to the work continuing, Councillor Candon sort clarification as to the Marine Licence MMO and whether there was further work to be undertaken in light of delays or whether these delays were expected. It was reported that this was not unusual as the Government departments were dealing with a number of applications and it was reported that it was key to engage with the MMO and keep them updated.

Councillor Price made reference to the main construction works whereby 5 out of the 6 main contractors has declined to tender for the procurement and asked if any assurances could be given to ensure the company chosen would be able to commit to the entirety of the contract. It was reported that the procurement process was being managed by NCC, and it was advised that there had now been a procurement Director appointed would be managing this process and would ensure the process was appetising to result in bids being returned.

Councillor Price further asked if any assurances could be given on the creation of jobs anticipated, it was reported that there was an anticipation of the creation of 600 jobs however the number of jobs created could not be guaranteed.

Councillor Mogford commented that he was disappointed to see the South Denes Road barrier which would stop people from using the harbour facility although it was advised that this barrier had now been in place for a number of years.

Councillor Plant commented that he felt the project was a great opportunity to people to build business in Great Yarmouth, he made reference to Covid and how this had impacted projects and caused things to have to change.

RESOLVED :

That the Committee note the content of the report and agree that a further update be brought back to the Committee once the next stages of procurement of the main works contractor is completed.

Members received and considered the Head of Inward Investment's report which presented to Members the progress made against the Culture, Heritage and Tourism Strategy's Delivery plan since it's approval by Members on the 21 July 2020. 

The Head of Inward Investment provided a summary of the report to Members and advised that significant progress had been made since the last report was brought before Committee. Members were advised that the report detailed events that had successfully taken place across the Borough within Covid-19 restrictions.

Councillor Price commented that he had heard nothing but positive feedback on the recent Fire on the Water Event and stated that in his opinion the event provided a superb advert for the Borough, he passed on his thanks to the organisers of the event.

Councillor Wainwright commented that he would like to see more events being held in Gorleston as he felt that Gorleston was neglected when it came to events being held.

Councillor Waters-Bunn asked with regard to the beach wheelchairs at both Great Yarmouth and Gorleston and asked where these were available from. It was advised that the location of these would be raised with Property Services and fed back following the meeting. Councillor Waters-Bunn also asked with regard to the Community Orchard and where this was located, it was advised that the location of the orchard would be confirmed with GYPT and fed back following the meeting.

Councillor Wright commented on the potential loss of the Maritime Festival due to cost and commented that this type of event used to draw a significant number of people into the Town and in his opinion these type of events were needed to continue to bring people into the town. The Chairman commented that the Maritime Festival had been mainly supported by sponsors which were difficult to source and required a significant commitment from some businesses. Some Members felt that the Tourism Bid received a significant amount of funding throughout the year and should provide support to the Council in order for large events to take place.

Councillor Hammond commented that in his opinion there was not enough advertising of the events and work should be done to broadcast more on what is available. The Head of Inward Investment advised that analysis work would be undertaken to look at how people heard about events within the Borough.

RESOLVED :

(1) The Committee reviewed and commented on the Culture, Heritage and Tourism Strategy Delivery Plan progress update.

2) Approve the proposal to reallocate the £40,000 set aside for UK City of Culture to fund the continuation of cultural programming in partnership with East Suffolk Council.

3) Agree to the Council joining the Cultural Consortium as a Tier 1 partner and note the submission of the Consortium partners’ application to the Culture Development Fund.

Councillor Jeal hereby left the meeting for this item.

The Committee received and considered the Economic Growth Manager's report which following the Chancellors recent extension of the Kickstart Scheme the finite details of which remain unchanged, gave an update to the Committee on the progress made and the forward planned activity.

The Economic Growth Manager summarised the report to Members and advised that a jobs fair was taking place at the Town Hall this Wednesday.

The Chairman commented that in his opinion the scheme seems quite complicated and therefore was unsure on how successful the scheme would be for the Council. It was reported that funding was only made available when employment began, it was also noted that there had been some delays due to job opportunities not becoming live on the system quick enough.

Councillor Wright asked how many Kickstart positions were available through the Council, it was advised 6 positions would be made available and these would be paid on a minimum wage basis.

Councillor Wainwright advised that the apprenticeship scheme had been discussed at the Joint Consultative Working Group and Members of this Group had agreed that the wages of these positions should be looked at in the hope that an increase could be sought.

Councillor Candon commented that he was disappointed that the scheme had not worked as well as hoped although noted that this was due to a lack of candidates rather than jobs available.

The Chairman passed on his thanks to Officers for the work that has been undertaken on this project.

RESOLVED :

(1) That the Committee review and commented on the progress of the Kickstart  Scheme and the proposed forward activity to continue promotion of the scheme.

The Committee received and considered the Project Managers report which advised Members that the council was one of 16 Go Trade partners from areas across Southern England and northern France and would work across several project streams including tourism, communications and digital development.

The project: 'GO TRADE' stands for Growth of the Visitor Economy through Traditional Markets, Employment and Skills and aims to increase visitor footfall across a number of town centres throughout the partnership geography, by enhancing the visitor experience of traditional street markets. The specific objective of the project is to “improve and modernise the traditional markets offer to use them as entry point for tourism and to create a cross-border brand targeting visitors from close Europe”

It was reported that building relationships between partner organisations and planning work began in late 2017 with the project concluding administratively in 2022. Project delivery must be completed by 31 December 2021.

The report provided Members with an update of the progress and outcomes of the Go Trade project to date, along with detailing the plans for the remainder of the project and legacy.

Members were advised that the Council had accumulated £53,441 of unmatched GO Trade funding, whereupon Interreg awarded full intervention rate for three claims resulting in the Council’s 31% match being retained. As the agreed funding match should be used for market initiatives, officers propose to reinvest into Great Yarmouth Borough in the following ways:

• Roaming Farmer/Produce Markets

A mandatory deliverable is to attract new markets to join the Go Trade brand. It can be achieved by establishing new regular markets (farmers, produce and craft markets) in addition to the town centre permanent market. In conjunction with another emerging initiative within the area of Gorleston, local organisations could apply for up to £500 utilising the above funds for set up costs for branded equipment, to deliver such pop-up markets.

The initiative would include attracting local sellers and traders who can also find an opportunity to join the Town Centre market if they wish. If Members were minded to support this approach, a small grant application would be reviewed by a panel consisting of representatives from Property Services (Market Management), Environmental Health (licensing); Business Support and Project Management Office (responsible for Go Trade project delivery). To comply with Go Trade branding requirements the roaming markets would be registered through the Go Trade Quality Assurance Committee (QAC).

These markets would benefit from being added to the Go Trade website; promoted across partner social media channels, tourism channels and featured within the ongoing tourism itineraries. Their Traders would have access to the business training modules built into the member section of the Go Trade platform, for free.

• Great Yarmouth Market

The remaining balance of the additional income would be utilised to cover the annual cost of the Marketplace Wi-Fi for 2022/23 until the maintenance costs absorbed by Property Services.

Finally, the balance utilised by the Events Team to deliver an event celebrating the reopening of the new market post redevelopment and investment towards future Food and Drink festivals held on the marketplace.

It was advised that these initiatives would not be of any disadvantage to current market traders.

Councillor T Wright sort clarification of the outstanding funding and it was advised this was unspent funding not additional funds. Councillor Wright further commented that he would have liked to have seen some of the funding spent on the promoting of events in the Market Place including the opening of the new market place.

RESOLVED :

That the Committee :-

(1) Note the achievements of Go Trade project as described in the report.

(2) Agree to Investigate the opportunity of using some of the GYBC unspent allocation to set up a small grant scheme to establish a new roaming farmers market.

(3) Approve the allocation of the remainder of the funding to Wi-Fi maintenance and market opening launch.

There was no other business discussed at the meeting.