Newham BID Committee Meeting
Minutes
Venue: Cornish Mutual
Tuesday 1st March 2016, 12:30 – 14:00
Attendees: Melinda Rickett (MR), Peter Beaumont (PB), Russell Dodge (RD), Alan Treloar (AT), Bill Osborne (BO), Mel Richardson (MelR), Mark Killingback (MK), Michael Galligan (MG), Nathaniel Hobbs (NH)
Apologies: Terri Trosnau-Ward, Rob Nolan, Bert Biscoe, Karen Macquarrie, Alison Elvey
Presentation from Calvin Lovelock on behalf of ROC
Calvin Lovelock gave a brief presentation on the ROC 5K 500, a 5K (3 mile) charity fun run which will take place after work on Tuesday 28 June starting at Lemon Quay taking a route around Boscawen Park and finishing at The Old Ale House. The run supports ROC, a charity for vulnerable local people with learning disabilities and is a great team building exercise.
Calvin explained that in 2017 it is possible that the route will move to Newham which would raise the profile of Newham.
Claire Longman was introduced from Cornish Mutual as the contact for the Cornish Mutual Running Club. This will start in early April probably on a Wednesday or maybe Tuesday night at 5.15pm with the purpose of encouraging people to get prepared for the ROC 5K. Anyone is welcome to join and the sessions will begin with two minutes of walking and one minute of jogging so non-runners need not fear!
Calvin asked that everyone help to support the event and act as ambassadors for it either by encouraging businesses to enter teams or by signposting people to the Cornish Mutual Running Club.
MelR offered to circulate flyers to Newham businesses and to send out a note to Newham businesses.
1) Attendance, apologies & introductions
Apologies were noted (listed above). MelR said that whilst Terri from ISight Cornwall couldn’t attend the meetings, a new Operations Manager was being appointed who would get involved with the BID and attend in the future. Karen Macquarrie had indicated that due to the intensive nature of their business, she would be unable to attend future meetings but remained very supportive of the BID.
3) Minutes of last meeting, matters arising and outstanding actions
There were no comments on the minutes of last meeting and they were adopted as an accurate record.
4) Actions
Outstanding actions were handled alongside project updates on the table circulated with the papers.
MelR also provided a hard copy of the BID newsletter that will be distributed next week to levy payers along with their 16/17 bills. Additional newsletters have been printed to allow Mel to hand them out to Newham businesses when she visits them to chase their website entries.
Key updates were as follows:
5) Current Project Updates
i) Signage
MelR reported that the planning applications for all the signs had now been submitted and a decision was expected by 4 April providing planning do not extend this decision period for a further four weeks.
Once planning has been secured, a phased installation plan with Parc Signs can be agreed. MelR said that when she was visiting businesses over the coming weeks she would re-check consent for some of the signs particularly where they were required on the side of businesses or on private sector land.
A discussion was held around how to make best use of the two large advertising boards and whether Newham BID still wished to offer businesses the opportunity to advertise (at an additional cost and for a set time period) on one of the 16 slots available (8 per Board). MelR said an alternative would be to advertise the different business types across Newham. It was agreed that whilst the scheme could be difficult to administer, with the possibility of waiting lists etc, listing specific businesses on the signs could help to drive footfall for all businesses.
It was agreed to check out demand for this advertising opportunity with the BID levy payers once the advertising signs are approved by planning and assuming permission is granted for their installation from the two landlords/tenants, Staples being the key one.
Action:
· Gain business consent for signs where applicable and agree phased installation plan with Parc Signs
ii) CCTV
MelR reported that 15 cameras were now operational and the CCTV signs were up across Newham including a phone number. Web access for all cameras has been granted to Newham BID and both MelR and PB have full access; MK and BO will have access to selected cameras as per the CCTV policy and this was being sorted out the same day. Newham’s CCTV had been registered with the Information Commissioners and at the same time, use of the Newham BID database for other purposes had also been logged to ensure the BID complies with the data protection act.
MelR said that she, like Alison, was continuing to chase the wayleave agreements for the remaining 9 cameras and had been in discussion with all of the relevant parties including Cornwall Council in relation to camera 18 at the turning circle. MK updated everyone on the history to the installation of this camera mentioning that there had been no metered supply and that Cornwall Council had suggested that Newham BID explore linking with Cornwall Council’s CCTV system as an alternative to putting a Newham BID camera on the street light.
MelR had explored this option but the costs - £7,730 plus Vat purely for the camera, wiring, control equipment and decoder were disproportionate to the overall costs of the entire Newham BID Scheme (Circa £36K for 24 cameras). This figure was also exclusive of laying the broadband and electricity. The Committee agreed that Newham BID should ask Cornwall Council for consent to put up a Newham BID camera on the street light and connect it to our wifi so that it can be monitored alongside all the other footage.
SH asked whether the CCTV coverage covered all of Newham or whether certain areas were excluded. SH suggested that businesses should be aware of the coverage so that if their premises weren’t covered, a conversation could take place about additional cameras and better lighting in certain places. It was noted that some businesses might be prepared to install additional lighting to improve night visibility but that advice should be sought from CDA Solutions in respect of what kind of lighting would work best in conjunction with CCTV cameras.
MelR said that the CCTV policy regarding use of the CCTV had been registered with the Information Commissioners Officer along with the Newham BID database. The CCTV policy was subsequently ratified by the BID Committee. PB suggested that if anyone had any comments or possible edits in the future, to get in touch with Mel.
Action:
· Continue to secure wayleaves for 9 cameras.
· Check whether all of Newham is covered by CCTV and liaise with businesses to explore how lighting might be improved
· Discuss camera 18 with Amy Tatlow at Cornwall Council
iii) Road Update
Mel R reported that there was positive news regarding progress on the road improvement between Gas Hill and Lighterage Hill. Our Expressions of Interest application for Growth Deal funding (circa £2.5m) had been shortlisted and Cornwall Council working with consultants, WSPPB were working on a draft business case – details of which would be shared with MelR later this week.
Consultants, WSP PB would be looking at the economic case for our funding bid meaning that whilst it would still be preferable to publish an economic plan for Newham (to help for future investment) it was not needed as a priority in relation to the road. However, Vicky Fraser at Cornwall Transport team has asked that individual letters of support are submitted from Newham businesses to support the need for the road improvement.
Vicky had also asked whether there might be some match funding to go alongside the Growth Deal funding ask of £2.374 million and the Council’s £200K contribution. It was agreed that a contribution towards the project should be made from the BID funds and that this amount should be considered alongside other Newham BID project expenditure.
It was agreed that the road improvement would benefit all of Newham’s businesses and not just those beyond Gas Hill since it would enable Newham to be promoted as somewhere to invest as well as helping to link together walking and cycling routes. The BID’s funding, whilst modest compared with the cost of the overall scheme could help unlock pedestrian as well as vehicular access and fits with the business plan.
The feasibility study had now been redrafted and more accurately reflected Newham BID’s preference for Option 14 and the conclusions drawn in previous meetings held by Newham BID representatives and Council Officers/Councillors.
Action:
· Notify Vicky Fraser of Newham BID’s intention to provide some BID funding towards the road improvement as match funding. Amount to be agreed at a future BID meeting
· Mel R to draft letter to businesses for PB to approve and then email this to Newham BID levy payers with a deadline to respond
iv) Website
MelR confirmed that Creative Edge were working well on the website and that the prototype had been signed off and the build had started. MelR had circulated a photo brief to a couple of photographers and she hoped that the pictures could be used not only on the website but also in future marketing activity. MR also suggested getting a photo of the committee done at the same time.
Aerial photography was discussed and AT offered to share details of a company who use drones to take aerial shots. BO said that the cost of having this photography taken could be offset by an advert on the NPOT site or some other kind of support. MR mentioned that Loic might also be interested in aerial photography to support his Truro Loops Project.
Action:
· Organise photography for use on website and for other purposes
v) Kernow Tree Surgery
MelR discussed the quote received from Kernow Tree Surgery to provide maintenance across Newham for 9 months from March to November. The quote was actually a reduction on previous years and there could be a break clause of a month’s notice should Newham BID wish to pursue other avenues in line with the proposed public realm tender.
The Committee agreed to the quote of £3712.50 for 9 months.
Action:
· Confirm the renewed contract with Kernow Tree Surgery
6 New Projects
i) Marketing
MelR said that she had met with AT and they had discussed the need to prepare a marketing strategy and to do this, it was worth considering forming a separate group of individuals interested in marketing or with marketing expertise.
Both MR and AT said that they would be happy to attend and AT said he would bring someone along from his company with marketing skills. It was agreed that there could be a wealth of marketing expertise within individual businesses on Newham which could be tapped into to help Newham overall.
It was agreed to open up this opportunity to all levy payers.
Action:
· Recruit members for marketing group
ii) Cost Savings
MelR mentioned that alongside marketing initiatives, cost savings were another area for the BID to explore as this had been part of the original business proposal. MelR said she was aware that very few BIDs in Cornwall had made progress on collective purchasing but she would find out more and see if there were good examples elsewhere in UK.
Action:
· Explore what cost savings ideas could be trialled on Newham
iii) Parking
MelR said that she had talked with BO about parking issues on Higher Newham Lane and had subsequently had discussions with Jeremy from Mid Cornwall Printing, John Abraham and Andrew, Transport Manager at Skinners. All were broadly supportive of addressing the issue of parked cars which was impeding access for business deliveries and had contributed towards the damage to Cornwall Garage Doors’ sign in January.
MelR said that she would talk to other businesses on Higher Newham Lane before convening a meeting with the owners of the road. This project would need to be considered alongside discussions with Higher Newham Farm who may be interested in using the road for pedestrian access. Having suffered a planning setback recently, Higher Newham Farm had secured outline planning consent and was back on track again.
MelR said it was important to agree what the best solution for Higher Newham Lane was both in terms of parking and links with Higher Newham Farm.
iv) Public Realm
MelR said that she had met informally with Michael Hawes from MeiLoci about the potential to put together a public realm masterplan for Newham with short and long term projects. It was agreed that MelR would draft a tender for the preparation of a public realm masterplan and then discuss at a future meeting alongside a Newham BID 16/17 budget.
Action:
· Draft public realm masterplan tender
7) Governance
MelR reported that she was meeting Neil Scott later in the month to discuss governance and finance issues, taking a fresh look at the company articles, terms of reference etc. This was with a view to putting together a ‘schedule of matters’ that Newham BID needs to consider (e.g. open meetings, renewals for chair/vice-chair etc) and to understand the financial position of Newham BID in order to put together a Newham BID budget plan for the coming year.
Action:
· Schedule of matters to be compiled and Newham BID budget for 16/17 to be prepared
8) Any Other Business
There was no AOB and the meeting closed at 2.10pm
9) Date, time and location of next meeting
The date, time and location of the next meeting would be confirmed in due course
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