Agenda item

Councillors Lynne Allen, Peter Curling and Robin Sansarpuri attended as Ward Councillors and spoke in support of the petition.  It was noted that Councillor Curling sat on the Improvement Panel.   

Concerns, comments and suggestions raised at the meeting included the following:

• The petitioners advised that Broadway Parade was part of Coldharbour Lane and formed the entrance to Hayes Town Centre.  As such, concern was expressed as to why this part of the road had been excluded from the shop front scheme;
• It was suggested that, if the area covered by the scheme had included Broadway Parade, consideration could have been given to reducing the amount of funding available from the Council for each of the shop fronts (the property owners had paid £1,200 for the improvements to each shop front and the Council had contributed an additional £4,800 for each);
• Petitioners were concerned that shop keepers in Broadway Parade had been excluded from decisions about the infrastructure which affected their businesses.  Further concern was expressed that there had been no funding for festive lights or hanging baskets in Broadway Parade and that the pavements were not being repaired.  The petition organiser advised that he had contacted Council to request information about these matters under the Freedom of Information Act but that he had not yet received a response;
• It was noted that the Botwell and Townfield Ward Councillors had used some of their ward budgets to extend the festive lighting in Hayes Town at Christmas;
• It was noted that there was an individual that had been regularly repairing cars on the side of the road in Broadway Parade – which was not condoned by the shop keepers;
• The shop keepers requested that they be permitted a say in what happened in their environment;
• The public response to the work that had been undertaken on the shop fronts through this scheme had been very positive.  Those businesses that had benefited were thankful that the Council had supported the scheme as it had generated enthusiasm and brightened up the area;
• Although the look and quality of workmanship of the new shop fronts were thought to be good, it was suggested that the colour of the paving was drab.  It was thought that the yellow stone paving that had been used in West Drayton was more inviting and environmental; and
• Petitioners queried whether there would be any additional funding made available to offer a phase 2 of the scheme in the near future and, if so, whether this would be made available to the shops in Broadway Parade.

Councillor Douglas Mills listened to the concerns of those present and responded to the points raised.  He advised that, as his portfolio did not include issues such as festive lights and highway repairs, he would only be responding to the request to extend and amend the shop front scheme policy. 

Councillor Mills advised that 70% of the funding for the shop front scheme had come from the Mayor’s outer London grant scheme and the remaining 30% had been provided by the Council - all of this money had been used for the scheme.  If additional funding was sourced for a second phase of the shop front scheme, consideration would need to be given to which shops would be eligible to apply for the funding (e.g., whether the scheme should be broadened out to include the shops in Broadway Parade or whether priority should be given to these shops that had been eligible but not participated in the scheme). 

It was noted that, when the scheme was launched, it had been anticipated that approximately 20% of the eligible shops would apply for funding.  As the total cost of refurbishing each shop front would be £6,000, the Council was able to estimate how big an area the scheme could be made available to.  Councillor Mills advised that, although some of the money had been used for pavement resurfacing, this money could have been used to refurbish more shop fronts if there had been more requests for inclusion in the scheme. 

Although there was no prospect of expanding the scheme in Hayes Town Centre in the next 12 months, the petitioners were advised that the Council was in discussions with TfL with regard to future work in Hayes.  Whilst the majority of any subsequent work would be in relation to highway improvements, there was a possibility that TfL would promote a more joined up approach to regeneration of Hayes Town Centre and take account of cultural events, pop up shops, shop fronts, etc.  A decision on whether or not funding would be made available would not be made until December 2012.  Negotiations would then need to take place to see if some of that funding could be secured for shop front improvements.  There were no guarantees that the funding would be made available and, if it was, that it would be used for shop fronts in Broadway Parade. 

RESOLVED:  That the Cabinet Member:

1. met with petitioners and discussed with them their request for Broadway Parade Coldharbour Lane to be included in the Council’s ‘Shop Front Improvement’ Scheme; and

2. advised that no further shop front funding for the Hayes Town Centre be approved but that officers review the scheme in June 2013 and come forward with proposals subject to new additional funding having been identified.

REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION

To allow the possibility of additional shop front funding for Hayes Town Centre to be kept under review. 

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED

None at this stage.