Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Sarah Cartwright, John Healey MP, Councillor Janine Bowler, Chris McGinley, Rebecca Slack, Colin Buxton, Mark Bell, Andy Lock, Dan Harper, Stephanie Peacock MP

The minutes were accepted as a true record.

Actions from previous meeting and matters arising:

Derek Braham has formally resigned from the Town Board. The Towns Board wish to thank Derek for all his help and support. Matthew Stephens will act as temporary chair for this meeting and a Chair and Vice Chair will be appointed at the August meeting.

Claire Dawson – Railway embankment

Highlight Report & Risks.

Key decisions / items for escalation to board

Overall Programme: Board Review:

To invite Stephanie Peacock MP to future meetings in preparation for boundary changes to constituencies which will coincide with the next general election.

To discuss with SYMCA the need for a representative to attend regularly.

To approach the new supermarket provider on the former Goldthorpe Primary School site once the building is in place.

To approach local solicitors regarding representation on the Board.

To approach members of the Chamber of Commerce as recommended by Matthew Stephens to approach SYPTE for potential membership.

Alison to discuss with Berneslai Homes regarding potential resident involvement.

Update – Board Review actions will be updated under the Board Review item.

Project D – Housing

Action: Alison to arrange a workshop session in the summer for board members to attend and provide comments (Design panel for Housing)

Update – a session was arranged for 03/07/2023 however we are having to rearrange to allow more time for preparation.

Action: Alison to investigate and provide updates to the next Board meeting re: planning application for allotment site

Update - work on this action is ongoing

Alison provided an update on the housing scheme on the former allotment site 

Action: Alison to investigate a temporary solution to double yellow lines issue whilst the works are ongoing

Update – Sarah Scholes advised that no council decision made yet, most comments made to council so far have regarding parking issues have not been about the post office.

Project G Cultural Hub:

Action: Rachael to discuss with trustees of Dearne playhouse regarding removed materials being made available for elsewhere.

Update – Rachael has discussed with the trustees of the Playhouse, and they are happy to do this and will liaise with Thurnscoe Little Theatre directly. Will include lighting and potentially a PA system.

Action: Rachael to put the Manager of Playhouse in touch with the Manager of the Little Theatre.

Project K:

Action: Suzanne and Mike to chase up sign for Roundabout which should have already been installed:

Update - Suzanne followed this up at the A635 project board meeting and has been advised the signs will be installed on Friday 07/07/2023. We can confirm that they were erected by 7^th July 2023.

Action: Suzanne to investigate query as part of Traffic Assessments which will be carried out as part of the planning permission that will be prepared and submitted by the developer

Update - Amendment required to the Board Minutes - As part of the planning submission traffic assessments would be required to be undertaken.

Communications

Action: Becca Gamble and Mike Cotton to review the existing FAQs with Councillors.

‘Meet the Board’ – Becca to work with Mike to review this section on the website.

Update - The FAQs are being reviewed internally and once updated a link will be sent to Board to check if they have any further suggested updates. Communications plans for the next 12 months to be discussed at August Board.

Any Other  ...  view the full minutes text for item 391.

Heart of Goldthorpe Deep Dive – Teresa Williams

Project L

Suzanne Brough shared a slide regarding outputs of site, original business case vs current estimated outputs.

Question from Matthew Stephens – job numbers/construction numbers seem very high, are they correct, do we need to double check?

Answer from SuzanneBrough– yes, it is correct, CBRE has confirmed using most effective formula available.

Answer from Rachael Allington – Job numbers are not relating strictly on site, but also external and auxiliary workers such as in factories elsewhere

Point from Rachael Allington – Would like to ask board to let this move forward through the Cabinet approval process

Decision:  Board agreed the continued development of the scheme for £7.5m to be utilised to help businesses through the Commercial Investment Fund.

Project D: Housing – awaiting match funding, property evaluations to enter shortly

Question from Matthew Stephens – what if these properties do not happen? What is your contingency to deal with this?

Answer from Rachael Allington – Applications have contingencies already, if planning appears to be an issue it will go back to board, applications currently are heading to right direction

Question from Matthew Stephens – Is there a delay from SYMCA regarding housing funding?

Answer from Alison Dalton – There has been a delay from SYMCA funding, expecting feedback from assurance panel for an update. Julie is chasing and will update once we have the outcome.

Project M: Housing retrofit – project manager appointed, will start on 31^st July. Cabinet report approved at the end of June. Property valuation will begin shortly.

Project F: Phoenix Park – tenders returned and 3 were under budget, preferred contractor identified. Work is ongoing to find a business partner to manage the building and create a business plan with the help of an outside leisure consultant and BMBC contacts.

Project G: Cultural Hub – phase 1 roof completed; new PA system is implemented.

Phase 2 alongside welfare park – scope agreed waiting on costing.

Aims to be ready Spring/Summer next year to minimise impact on playhouse finances

Josh Jordan-Clough has been appointed as the Project Manager and will be managing this scheme from August 2023.

Project H: Update to be covered in the Deep Dive.

Project Presentations

Project H Deep Dive - Teresa Williams

A copy of the presentation was circulated with the Board papers.

Question from Matthew Stephens - The red brick wall at the back of the square – what is happening with this wall?

Answer from Teresa – Wall will still be there, conversations with area team are ongoing regarding what will happen with it.

Question from Matthew Stephens – will this project spread onto the high street?

Answer from Teresa –yes, the scope of the project will spread onto high street with potential improvements to paving and planters for public realm works

Question from Matthew Stephens – School site, what is happening with this as retailers wish to know

Answer from Rachael – developer has put in a planning application,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 392.

Roles & Responsibilities

Documents relating to new applications were circulated with board paper.

John Healey is still a Board member for 2 more meetings but is unavailable for them. Stephanie Peacock has been invited and accepted at after the discussion to reach out to her at the last meeting. She is happy to join but has pre-existing commitments for July and August meetings. Futures dates shared and advised she is aiming to come to one a quarter.

Potential new members from the discussion last time have been contacted so that the required BMBC expertise can be added and for voting representatives they were asked to Express and Interest and fill out an application form for Board to review and choose whether to accept.

Community Reps – 3 vacancies – 2 organisations contacted. Dearne & District Football Team are interested.

Action – Becca to circulate application form once received.

Business Reps – 2 vacancies - It was agreed that it was too early to invite the proposed end user of the former school site to join the board. 4 businesses approached after the recommendations and discussion at last Board. Action Coach and Coda have applied for the positions and application forms have been shared.

Board asked for further information on the Coda application and how they were aware of the opportunity

Matthew Stephens confirmed that they are a Chamber member who has been recommended by Matthew.

Decision – Board accepted the applications from Action Coach and Coda and so they will be invited to join the Board.

Other relevant organisation reps – membership requested from a Police representative to add expertise and to work closely with the Police in the project planning. An application from a Police representative was shared with Board.

Decision – Board accepted the application from the Police Representative and so they will be invited to join the Board

Local Government Representation – Planning, Procurement and Sustainability Teams in BMBC approached to provide expertise in their respective areas to Board. Planning felt that due to the number of Planning applications involved it would be a conflict of interest for them, however we can contact directly for any specific updates or discussions. Procurement and Sustainability are happy to send representatives.

Action – Procurement and Sustainability Reps to be invited to join Board.

LEP representatives – SYMCA confirmed that the current representative is the correct contact and will attend or send a representative to future meetings, it was not possible in time for the July meeting.

Chair/Vice Chair

Action – BMBC to write out for nominations to agree these positions at August Board

Justin Homer joined the meeting

A discussion ensued regarding the potential new board members.

Question from Justin Homer – in terms of John Healey and Stephanie Peacock, wouldn’t these change at next general election?

Response from Becca – John Healey MP has written to confirm he cannot attend July or August meeting and the constituency change will have taken place by the October meeting.

Matthew Stephens – Is board still missing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 393.

Becca advised that the Principal Towns team are investigating a Business forum in Principal Towns so this may be set up in Goldthorpe. The Town Centre group it was to be modelled on is being reshaped first and a couple of trial areas are being set up. Any further updates we will let Board know when appropriate.

Question from Claire Dawson: Please can Colin Buxton be included in any works that Principal Towns Team are planning to complete regarding Business Engagement in the area.

Response from Becca Gamble:  to ensure that they contact Colin Buxton to discuss.

Question from Mathew Stephens – can the newsagent near Colin also be engaged

Action – Becca to link with principal towns regarding this

Auditions currently ongoing for The Heart of The Wood.  Liane Holdsworth to be interviewed on BBC Sheffield later today to promote the project.

Question from Cllr Bellamy – has tried to make linkages with Goldthorpe school to try and get them involved.

Response from Rachael Allington: Rachael thanked Councillor Bellamy for attempting to engage with the school on behalf of the Board.

Action – Mike and Teresa to organise a media day for Heart of the wood to give a sneak preview closer to end of production

Action – FAQ’s are being updated, Mike will circulate with board to allow board to review them.

Action – Mike and Becca to review Meet the Board section once new members join.

Rachael – article produced by Daily Express who have dug out old news articles calling Goldthorpe a ‘ghost town’, Alison Dixon led the comms response on this.  There was some misinformation in this regarding Horse and Groom pub being rebuilt instead of town square, Rachael wishes to highlight this and has shared the article.

Towns Fund conference on 20/06/2023

The conference aimed to provide clarity on roles and responsibilities so the council and Town Board can act with one aim and one voice.

Rachael – Is difficult to fit in due to busy schedules but was incredibly useful. A lot of good feedback for supporting board. Another one is going to be run, wishes to recommend attendance to all board members. Wishes to thank DLUHC for running it.

Action – Rachael to email James to share Town Deal conference links for potential future attendance in addition to links to other projects to see how delivery is ongoing elsewhere. These are :

Hartlepool – skills academy

Blackpool – youth hub

Sandwell – housing & greenspace

Swindon – how they had integrate new SuDs and cycleroutes

Question from Claire Dawson – wishes to know how Barnsley is doing in comparison

Response from Rachael – During feedback to DLUHC session, difficult to compare due to different situations, feels Barnsley Board is high performing in comparison in terms of support, direction, and cohesiveness.

Matthew Stephens – for next conference, could offer to use ES10 site as an example of how to use board decisions to change plan into a more successful project.

Guidance has been published to help make project adjustment faster.

No update available as Rebecca Slack was unable to attend the meeting, however, assurances have been made that if she is unable to attend future meetings, she will try to arrange a substitute.

The future forward plan for agenda items was presented by Rachael.

Rachael – Wishes to give board an update on Shaping Futures which Barnsley has been hosting over the course of April-July. 5 work experience students from Dearne Astrea Academy who have been working on a Towns Fund challenge since April and came for a Workplace visit in July to present the outcome and join with other BMBC groups involved to do activities like meet the Mayor in the Chamber. Has been a great success and wishes to highlight this added value opportunity to board.

This experience aimed to highlight the projects of the Towns Fund to young people and also sought their views and involvement in the overall programme and some of the projects, which also giving a unique opportunity to a group of young people.

Alison – New build at Billingley View, previous contractor has gone into administration, have been working with procurement and finance to appoint a new contractor. Aiming to restart later this month on site. Finalising the contract, residents will be notified soon via letter drop. Will be emphasising safety for this.

Question form Matthew Stephens – Is the new contractor confirmed?

Answer from Alison – Yes they are

Question from Cllr Cain – are these houses allocated?

Answer from Alison - Yes some have held out for properties at Billingley view, some have accepted new housing, any unallocated properties will be advertised as the scheme progresses.

Rachael Allington: Dearne Valley Parkway currently closed due to a fire in the underpass, structural investigations ongoing prior to the reopening of the road.

Question from Mathew Stephens – is entire parkway in the area closed?

Answer from Rachael – yes

Matthew Stephens:  Are CPO discussions ongoing on the housing project.

Alison: Confirmed that consultations are ongoing.

Action –Julie to arrange Housing Needs Assessment appointments as part of the acquisitions process, Berneslai Homes to also attend the appointments.

Matthew Stephens wishes to congratulate Barnsley council on winning Municipal Journal and LGA council of the year awards

Date and Time of Next Meeting

Thursday 17th August 2023 (Teams)