Agenda item

To consider the attached report (AMED-005-2014/15).

The Economic Development Officer (EDO) presented a report to the Cabinet Committee and updated them on a number of projects, themes and issues being explored by the Economic Development Team.

(1)        Waltham Abbey Town Centre - The Waltham Abbey Economic Development Plan (EDP) was circulated to the Town Council for comment and a second iteration of the plan had been produced and circulated to partners of the Town Council and Town Partnership. A subsequent meeting had been held to discuss the next steps for that plan and to highlight some of the key projects being undertaken.

Further development of the Waltham Abbey EDP would be undertaken in the light of the findings of studies commissioned from Peter Brett Associates and Colliers International. It was anticipated that these reports would be received by the end of November and be presented to the next meeting of the Cabinet Committee.

(2)        Heritage Lottery Funding - An officer working party had been established to look at submitting a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to undertake a heritage based development project in the Market Square area of Waltham Abbey. This was at an early stage and to date a site visit to identify the critical heritage buildings to be incorporated into such a bid was the only concrete step taken. The next stage would be to submit a project enquiry to HLF and seek a meeting with them to identify both the weaknesses in a previously submitted unsuccessful bid and the scope for a successful revised bid.

(3)        Economic Development Priorities and Plans - Outline plans were now being drawn up for both the Epping and Ongar town centres. Initial walk rounds of each town would be undertaken to identify particular issues and a process of consultation with key partners would commence shortly afterwards.

The EDO advised Members that all town centres in the District would be considered when drawing up the Economic Development Plans.

(4)        Tourism - Under the direction of One Epping Forest, the Tourism & Visitor Board had recently held its inaugural meeting. A second Tourism Summit was to be held later this year. It was planned to coincide this event with a workshop to launch the Visit Essex Rural Escapes Toolkit and would be an excellent opportunity to help shape the way that our rural tourism economy developed in the future.

A Tourism Development Manager had now been appointed and would take up the post in November 2014.

(5)        Access To Funding Roadshow - In conjunction with the Essex Innovation Programme it was planned to host an Access to Funding Roadshow at the Civic Offices on 17 November 2014. This would bring a number of key funding exhibitors, including NWES, Growth Accelerator, Start-Up Loans and others, together to present some of the funding opportunities which existed for businesses in the district. The event would be part of a programme of events throughout Essex and would hopefully attract a number of local businesses.

(6)        Start-Up Loans - It had been agreed to tie up with Start-Up Loans, a Government backed agency that offered loans of up to £10,000 to businesses that were pre-trading or within their first 12 months of trading. A meeting was planned to discuss the next steps and it was hoped that this would be taken forward in the next couple of months.

(7)        Partner Liaison - The Economic Development team continue to liaise with, support and attend meetings with a number of Partner Organisations. These included, at varying intervals:

·                     Lea Valley Food Taskforce

·                     Essex Economic Development Officer group

·                     Essex Tourism Officer Group

·                     Epping Forest Town Team

·                     Eastern Plateau Local Action Group

·                     Stansted Airport Local Authority Forum

·                     Tourism & Visitor Board

·                     West Essex Skills & Learning Forum

·                     Waltham Abbey Town Partnership

Resolved:

(1)        That the progress and work programme of the Council’s Economic Development Section be noted; and

(2)        That the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) be added to number 7 of the report, Partner Liaison.

Reasons for Decision:

To update the Cabinet Committee on the progress made with regard to Economic Development issues.

Other Options Considered and Rejected:

None, as this was a monitoring report for noting only.