Agenda and minutes

Councillor David Henderson, Leader of Wyre Council, was elected as Chairman.

The newly elected Chairman of Economic Prosperity Board will introduce this item.

The Chairman introduced this item and explained to the board the purpose of the report.

He welcomed the report as it ensured that administrative clerking duties and the Chairmanship of the board would be re-aligned with the same authority. The Chairman proposed an amendment to recommendation two of the report regarding agenda setting meetings. He explained that the individual Chairman should decide this. Councillor Henderson was happy for the agenda to be created without an agenda-setting meeting, but he did request that he saw the agenda in advance of its publication to which the board agreed.

Councillor Buckley, Leader of Fylde Council, thanked Lennox Beattie, Executive and Regulatory Manager at Blackpool Council, for his support and assistance during her time as Chairman.

Councillor Karen Buckley, Leader of Fylde Council, was elected as Vice Chairman.

Members will disclose any pecuniary and any other significant interests they may have in relation to the matters to be considered at this meeting.

None.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting 25 March 2021.

The minutes of the meeting held on 25 March 2021 were confirmed as a correct record.

Any matters arising from the minutes not covered elsewhere on the agenda.

Councillor Karen Buckley directed the board to point five of the minutes and asked officers for an update, in particular surrounding the coach industry.

To agree the following proposed dates and times of Economic Prosperity Board meetings for the remainder of the 2021-2022 municipal year:

·         Thursday 9 September 2021 2pm

·         Thursday 9 December 2021 2pm

·         Thursday 3 March 2022 2pm

The Chairman proposed an amendment to the dates and times of the future Economic Prosperity Board meetings to suggest they could be held on either Monday afternoons or Friday mornings in order to accommodate the Leader of Blackpool Council.

Councillor Mark Smith, substitute member for Blackpool Council, agreed to put this suggestion to Leader Lynn Williams, but for now he was happy to leave the dates as they were.

The dates and times of future EPB meetings for the municipal year 2021/22 were agreed as:

•           Thursday 9 September 2021 2pm

•           Thursday 9 December 2021 2pm

•           Thursday 3 March 2022 2pm

Presentation by WhistleJacket, the creative agency heading up Blackpool Makes it Work - Blackpool's inward investment marketing campaign.

WhistleJacket, Brand, Design and Communications Agency, submitted a presentation which explained the next stages of the Blackpool Makes It Work – Blackpool’s inward investment marketing campaign.

Nicole Billington, Marketing Officer at Blackpool Council, introduced the two WhistleJacket representatives, Richard Morris and Helen MacVicar, and thanked them for their work.

WhistleJacket presented the changes made to the original campaign brand. Richard emphasised the need to present Blackpool and the Fylde Coast as a place not just for leisure, but for business. This was shown through new brand design assets, such as a new logo, tag line, reformatted website and the use of online case studies. He also explained the impact this had on online engagement. On the 12 June 2020, the Twitter page had 462 followers. This increased to 567 in just over a year, and the LinkedIn page showed a 313% increase in followers and engagement in the same period.

The Leaders of Fylde and Wyre both asked about the inclusion of their boroughs in the campaign.

Richard explained that Blackpool as an initial brand gathers more attention; however, Fylde and Wyre also have a lot to offer and were included in the campaign. He stated that the focus on the Fylde Coast is demonstrated within the case studies. The case studies highlighted the stories of people and their businesses, which are published on the social media pages to help drive online engagement. He emphasised the need for more stories from the three areas.

Peter Worthington, the co-opted private sector representative for Wyre, asked about the campaign’s key performance indicators. It was explained that this would be the next step for Blackpool Makes It Work.

The Chairman thanked Richard and Helen for their presentation.

Presentation by the Strategy, Policy & Research Manager, Blackpool Council (Scott Butterfield).

The Chairman addressed the board of Scott Butterfield’s absence and that the item will be postponed until the next meeting.

Report of the Director Development Services, Fylde Council (Paul Walker).

Paul Walker, the Director of Development Services for Fylde Council, introduced the report on Flood Strategy and explained the key points.

The board expressed their support of the Fylde Peninsular Water Management Partnership and highlighted the importance of collaboration with other authorities to tackle flooding.

A question was raised surrounding the project two bid’s next steps and timescales, to which Mr Walker responded.

The board highlighted the drainage issues and localised flooding on the Fylde Coast. They additionally agreed to ask the partnership to have more emphasis on reviewing flood risk and surface water management.

The board agreed to invite Carl Green, Head of Engineering Services at Wyre Council, to write a report surrounding the opportunity for investment in carbon mitigation strategies, which would come before members at the 9 December meeting.

The Economic Prosperity Board agreed to:

1.    Note the increasing risk of flooding and importance of surface water management across the Fylde Coast

2.    Recognise the success that Fylde, Blackpool and Wyre Councils have had by working in partnership to replace coastal defences and improve bathing water quality

3.    Support the respective authorities in addressing the challenge of flooding and surface water management through the Fylde Peninsular Water Management Partnership

4.    Invite the Heads of Services to investigate the potential to jointly establish a specialist drainage team (between the three districts and Lancashire CC) pooling existing resources and securing additional resources to allow greater integration of water management across the peninsular. This action is to be delivered as an action through the Fylde Peninsula Water Management Partnership and reported back to the EPB

5.    Support the innovation bids as outlined in section 4.5 of the report

6.    Invite the Heads of Service to work with United Utilities to identify surface water schemes that will be mutually beneficial in reducing flood risk.

The Chairman thanked Paul Walker for his report.

The discussion of the reports on this agenda may involve the disclosure of “exempt information”, as defined in Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. If at any point during the meeting, the board wishes to move to confidential session, it will need to pass the following resolution:

“That the public and press be excluded from the meeting whilst the remaining agenda items are considered, on the grounds that their presence would involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in category 3 (Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person, including the authority holding that information) of Part 1 of Schedule 12(a) of the Local Government Act, 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) Variation Order 2006 and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information”.

The EPB agreed that the public and press be excluded from the meeting whilst the remaining agenda items 12 and 13 were considered, on the grounds that their presence would involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in category 3 (Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person, including the authority holding that information) of Part 1 of Schedule 12(a) of the Local Government Act, 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) Variation Order 2006 and, that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the informations.

To review the work of the Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone and its future work and priorities against its role and remit. Report of the Head of Enterprise Zones, Blackpool Council.

Rob Green, Head of Enterprise Zones, provided the board with an update on the Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone.

Mr Green updated the board that the public engagement exercise had now commenced and responses were being received. He explained that they were hopeful to organise an open day at South Shore Cricket Club; however, this would be subject to local Covid-19 guidelines.

He updated the board that the planning application for the new highways at Common Edge and the new link road through to the Enterprise Zone would likely be submitted to Blackpool Council in August 2021. He also stated that the planning application for the new sports changing rooms and 3G pitches was approved by Blackpool Council and that it was being heard at Fylde Council’s Planning Committee later in the month.

Mr Green explained that Blackpool Airport were currently undergoing a restructure and were advertising for a new airport manager.

He updated the board that the Licensing application was on target for the 30 September takeover by Blackpool Airport Operations.

Cllr Karen Buckley questioned Rob Green on the time scales of the Blackpool Airport link road, 3G pitches projects and the introduction of Fibre Broadband in Fylde.

The board agreed to note the report.

To review the work of Hillhouse Technology Enterprise Zone and its future work and priorities against its role and remit. Report of the Head of Enterprise Zones, Blackpool Council

Rob Green, Head of Enterprise Zone presented an update on Hillhouse Enterprise Zone.

Mr Green updated the board of the interim report on the Fleetwood to Poulton railway line and stated that the summary recommendations explained all three options, heavy rail, light rail and tram-train, should be taken to the next stage.

Mr Green updated the board of a 10-acre enquiry from a company involved in electrolysis. NPL had responded that they did not believe they could accommodate this due to the insufficient electrical infrastructure. He explained that this issue needed to be investigated and put emphasis on the future of green power at both Enterprise Zones.

The board agreed to note the report.

The board thanked Rob for his reports and contributions.