Agenda item

The Cabinet agreed in April 2017 to submit a £6M funding bid to the Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to support further regeneration projects in Hatfield Town Centre.  The funding bid submitted comprised two elements, namely £1.2M for Public Realm Improvement in White Lion Square and £4.8M for the construction of a multi-storey car park to free up some of the existing car parking sites for housing development.  The Cabinet was now informed of the outcome of the LEP bid and the next stage of Hatfield Town Centre regeneration projects.

The Cabinet was pleased to note that the Council had been successful in securing a £6M funding package from the LEP for Hatfield Town Centre regeneration.

The construction of the multi-storey car park on The Common car park site was pivotal to unlocking further housing development in Hatfield Town Centre.  In order to minimise the disruption to businesses, shoppers, visitors and local workers during the construction of the multi-storey car park it would be necessary to provide an additional deck in the Lemsford Road car park which would give about 100 parking spaces and would significantly reduce the displacement of vehicles to residential roads.  It was noted that the single deck could be relocated to other parts of the Borough once the multi-storey car park was built.  The regeneration of Hatfield Town Centre would also have a major impact on parking in and around the town centre and a series of public consultation would need to be carried out by the Council’s parking team. It would be necessary to bring additional resources into the parking team to manage this.

The Cabinet noted that the multi-storey car park would be funded by £4.8M from the LEP and the remainder would be funded by the Council’s own capital resources.

The Cabinet agreed to expand the remit of the Member Procurement Panel for 1 and 3-9 Hatfield Town Centre to oversee the procurement process for the public ream, multi-storey car park and single deck at Lemsford Road car park as well as the Link Drive development.

The Cabinet authorised Officers to prepare and submit planning applications for the Hatfield town centre regeneration projects.

The Cabinet agreed that a revenue budget growth of £12,000 would be required in 2017/18 in order to support the work needed for Hatfield Town Centre parking changes.  The budget implication in future years would be considered as part of the 2018/19 budget setting process.

It was moved by Councillor R.Trigg, seconded by Councillor J.Dean and

RESOLVED:

(1)     That £6M be added to the capital programme for the construction of a multi-storey car park on The Common car park site in order to release land for housing development and that £1M be released immediately, with £5M to be added to the 2018/19 capital budget.

(2)     That £1.3M be added to the capital programme for a single deck to be built on Lemsford Road car park to relieve the parking pressure in the town centre during the construction of the multi-storey car park with the split of funding being £0.3M for the current year to be released immediately and the remaining £1M to be added to the 2018/19 capital budget.