REPORT OF:
/ head of housingAUTHOR: /
kevin hetherington
TELEPHONE: /01737 276315
E-MAIL: / TO: /EXECUTIVE
DATE: /7 april 2005
EXECUTIVE MEMBER: /councillor r ellingham
AGENDA ITEM NO: / 8 /KEY DECISION REQUIRED:
/ noWARD(S) AFFECTED: / preston, tattenhams and tadworth & walton
SUBJECT: / community facilities in preston
PURPOSE OF THE REPORT: / to agree a contribution to the establishment of a one-stop community shop in Marbles way and to consider use of remaining capital fund.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. To agree to make a £20,000 contribution to the one-stop community shop in Marbles Way.2. To reserve the remaining £31,000 in the Preston Capital fund to support the implementation of the Preston Regeneration Plan.
Executive has authority to determine the above recommendations.
Background
1. In 1999 the Council allocated £100,000 of capital funding under the then Capital Receipts Initiative for community development projects in Preston.
2. £43,000 was utilised in 2002 to fund the provision of CCTV equipment in the area and £6,000 was used to fund some community notice boards this year. The remaining balance is therefore £51,000.
Factors for Consideration
3. In 2003 the Local Strategic Partnership agreed that a one-stop community shop, providing local access to public services, should be developed in the Preston area. RB Housing Trust offered to take this project forward.
4. The Trust secured planning permission in May 2004 to convert the former Post Office at 71 Marbles Way into an estate office and mini Helpshop.
5. The Council has agreed to provide a Helpshop service in this new office as part of its commitment to improving the access of residents to public services. It is anticipated that the Helpshop service will be available for approximately half of the week.
6. The overall capital costs of the new one-stop community shop are estimated at around £70,000. The Trust has agreed to contribute £45,000 and the County Council £5,000. London Borough of Merton, who own the freehold of the property, are being asked to contribute their legal and administrative costs in drawing up the new lease to the Trust.
7. The draft Preston Regeneration Plan, considered by the Executive at its last meeting, offers an opportunity to generate capital funds to assist in the provision of new facilities to meet the community’s needs. However, if the regeneration plan leads to the development of new facilities that would not be for several years.
Options
8. The Executive could decide not to make the proposed contribution. That would, however, run counter to the support given by the Leader through the Local Strategic Partnership and would undermine the Council’s key community leadership role in this area.
9. Given the fact that a draft regeneration plan was approved for consultation by the Executive last month it is also appropriate to consider the options in relation to the outstanding capital fund for Preston.
10. If the proposed contribution to the Marbles Way facility is approved there will be £31,000 left in the fund. This could be returned to the Council’s capital reserves and reallocated when the capital programme is reviewed.
11. An appropriate alternative course would be to reserve to money within the existing capital budget for future use as the Preston Regeneration Plan moves into implementation. It could be used to help fund or to secure partnership funding for some of the initiatives that the final plan will contain.
12. A third option would be to continue to explore other uses with the Preston Partnership Advisory Group. However, the difficulty on this approach previously has been identifying appropriate schemes that meet capital funding rules and do not have revenue growth implications.
Resource Implications
13. The proposed contribution would come from an existing appropriate capital budget. The revenue costs of the extended service will be met by the reallocation of an existing staffing budget.
Legal Implications
14. There are no legal implications arising from this report.
Consultation
15. The Local Strategic Partnership has supported the proposals for the one-stop community shop and all expenditure of this budget has been discussed with the Preston Partnership Advisory Group.
Policy Framework
16. The regeneration of the Preston area is a key objective for the Council in 2005/06.
Conclusions
17. The proposed contribution will help to secure an important new community facility in the area, consistent with the corporate plan and community plan priorities. Reserving the unspent balance of the Preston Capital Fund will assist the Council to lever in additional funds and benefits through the implementation of the Preston Regeneration Plan when that is adopted.
Background Papers: / None