Agenda item

The Service Lead, Regulatory Services, provided the Committee with an overview of the progress being made in delivering Outcome 3 of the Five Year Plan – ‘Slough will be an attractive place where people chose to live, work and stay’.

Outcome 3 contained four key actions and progress on these was outlined as follows:

·  Establish a town team to ensure a clean and safe town centre. Since the Town Team met in June 2018, rapid progress had been made on improving the town centre, which included providing interim wardens in town centre patrols, an increase in floral displays and disputed ownership areas cleared of rubbish. Further work was planned to ensure that the transition of the town centre prior to and during regeneration of the area is managed well with positive input from businesses and other partners.

·  Plant one million bulbs with our communities in our Parks and Open Spaces. Over 600,000 bulbs had been planted, with input from local ward councillors working with the local communities  and planting in areas where there will be a visual impact for most people. A further 400,000 bulbs were being planted in autumn.

·  Town survey to ask residents what they felt about the town and use of the results to shape future plans. It was noted that the 2018 Place Survey was due to take place in late September, with results being received in December 2018. Procurement for an external company to carry out the survey and provide an analysis of the data was underway.

·  Co-create strong and attractive neighbourhoods.  Significant work had been undertaken with communities across the town including getting residents taking part consistently in a wide range of community organised provision.

Members raised a number of issues during a wide ranging discussion including the excellent resident engagement in the Manor Park consultation.  Concern was raised about the vitality of the High Street and apparent lack of information in the report.  It was noted that there was cross over between Outcomes 3 and 5 on the town centre which focused on cleanliness/safety and economic development respectively.  A Member highlighted that the geographic definition of the town centre was different from that in planning policies.  It was suggested that a unified definition of the boundary would lead to improved coordination, management and enforcement and help to encourage those moving into new developments in the areas around the station to visit the High Street rather than alternative destinations.  Officers recognised the point and the potential role of a Business Improvement District in improving the management of the town centre was explained.

The level of enforcement action on littering and anti-social behaviour was raised and Members asked about the most appropriate mechanisms to report such issues.  It was responded that reporting problems to the ASB hotline would help to identify trends and allocate resources.  There was Public Space Protection Order in the town centre that was enforced by Thames Valley Police.  The role of the wardens in providing support and reassurance was noted and it was hoped their hours and locations could be extended if funding could be secured.

Members welcomed progress made to date and endorsed the key actions outlined for further delivery of Outcome 3.

Resolved –

a)  That details of the update be noted.

b)  That the Committee support further engagement with and contributions from businesses and communities for, in particular,

·  The development of a Business Improvement District (BID) to bring more resources to the town centre.

·  The enhancement of the towns open spaces and neighbourhoods.