Agenda and minutes

At this point Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests other than the standing declarations attached, that they may have in the business on this agenda.

Members were invited to declare at this point in the meeting any personal or prejudicial interests, other than the standing declarations, that they might have in the business on the agenda.

Councillor Kirk declared a personal and non prejudicial interest in Agenda Item 6 (Major Development Schemes in York-an Update) in relation to Derwenthorpe as an employee of the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust.

Councillor Hudson also declared a personal and non prejudicial interest in Agenda Item 6, as he had been asked to examine the Derwenthorpe site from a marketing perspective.

No other interests were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the last meeting of the Economic & City Development Overview & Scrutiny Committee held on 28 September 2010.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the Economic and City Development Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 28 September 2010 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

It is at this point in the meeting that members of the public who have registered their wish to speak can do so. The deadline for registering is:

Monday 1 November 2010 at 5 pm.

To register please contact the Democracy Officer for the meeting, on the details at the foot of this agenda.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

The Executive Member for City Strategy will be in attendance and will present a report on his forthcoming priorities and challenges.

The Executive Member for City Strategy was in attendance to report on progress to date and forthcoming priorities in relation to his portfolio.

Discussion took place between Members and the Executive Member which related to;

·        The monitoring of CCTV cameras in the city.

·        Car parking revenues, and alternative methods of reducing costs by using cashless options for payment and differing parking charges for various periods during the day.

The Executive Member stated that he felt that there had been achievements in his portfolio area. He pointed to increased bicycle and public transport usage, and highlighted that this was a particular success due to the limited resources available to promote this.

The Chair thanked the Executive Member for his attendance and for his informative note which answered some concerns from Members on issues that related to his portfolio.

This update report asks Members to receive an update from a Director of Visit York on acceptance of Euros in York. It also asks the Committee to consider whether they wish to undertake any further work in relation to this topic.

Members received an update report in relation to a proposed scrutiny review topic they were undertaking.

A Director of Visit York attended the meeting and circulated a briefing note to Members, which updated them of the findings of the Gillygate Pilot Scheme and provided a few conclusions. This note was attached to the agenda after the meeting, which was then republished online.

He said that only a small percentage of retailers, who were interested in the pilot scheme, which could mean that there may be difficulties in attracting further retailers to participate if the scheme was citywide.

Members asked the Director a number of questions including;

• Whether he felt that there had been success stories from the pilot scheme.
• If he found the result surprising.
• Whether retailers would be enthusiastic in taking forward the idea themselves.

In response to Members’ questions, he felt that there had not been any success stories from those who took part in the pilot scheme. It was his opinion that the result was not surprising because there was a wide variance in those retailers wouldn’t take Euros and those who would choose not to. He added that because of this, he felt that he would not have any further information with which to update the Committee with in future.

Councillor Alexander spoke as the Member who submitted the topic for review. He spoke about how he felt that the pilot had been a success in that it had been useful to examine attitudes to the use of Euros in the city. He added that he felt that the Committee should progress the topic to review because he felt that the use of Euros would increase revenue levels for retailers and that it would increase visitor numbers to the city.

Members spoke about how they felt that there was not a sufficient economic value to accepting Euros in the city because there was a general continued decrease in cash usage in society. They also added that if the resources available for the review were limited, that the Committee should not have considered the topic.

RESOLVED:             (i)            That the report be noted.

(ii)               That the topic should not be progressed to review.

(iii)That no further information from Visit York be requested in relation to the topic.

REASON:                              To address the issues outlined within the topic registration form.

This report provides Members of the Economic and City Development Overview and Scrutiny Committee with an overview and update in relation to the major development and planning proposals in the city as of October 2010.

Members received a report which appraised them of the major development and planning proposals in the city as of October 2010. This was the first, sixth monthly report which had been requested by the Committee.

Discussion between Members and Officers relating to various developments  took place. This discussion was focused mainly on;

• York Central, Tax Increment Financing (TIF) and the link to the British Sugar site.
• The impact that the Community Stadium could have on City Centre retailers.
• The possible impact on the sites mentioned in the report on other development sites in the city.

RESOLVED:             That the report be noted.

REASON:                  To keep Members up to date in relation to major developments within the city.

Members are asked to review the Committee’s Work Plan for 2010/11. Extracts from the Forward Plan are included for Members’ information.

Members considered the Committee’s work plan for 2010/11 together with extracts from the Forward Plan related to the Committee’s remit.

RESOLVED:         (i) That the work plan and Forward Plan extracts be noted.

(ii)That the following items be added to or moved within the work plan ¹:

·        The Update Report on the Broadway Shops Councillor Call For Action be moved from the 7 December meeting to the 25 January meeting.

·        That information on local bus service provision be included within six monthly updates to the Committee on major transport initiatives and issues.