Agenda item

To consider a report by the Leader of Weymouth and Portland Borough Council.

(Note: Cllr Tony Ferrari indicated at the beginning of the debate that he would not speak or vote on the report.)

Members considered a report on the Peninsula Regeneration Scheme as a five part development to contribute to reimagining of Weymouth.  The plan had been developed over a number of years to bring together the regeneration proposal and further reports would be considered in due course.  The report related to the first of five phases to provide a sustainable self-financing model which would bring £300k for the Dorset Council in the future.

The Committee spent considerable time discussing the legal remit and accountability of the Strategic Harbour Authority (SHA), the role of the Harbour Management Board, and ownership of the peninsula site.  It was confirmed that the site would be owned by the Dorset Council, and it would be responsible for it as the SHA when the new council was formed, and would therefore be responsible for the future of the site which would include the potential to exploit funding opportunities to be ring-fenced for harbour use.  It was also noted that this would include harbour wall repairs and ongoing maintenance.

A range of views were expressed in relation to the merits and caution regarding the Regeneration Scheme. Strong support was expressed by a number of members whilst reassurance was sought by others specifically in relation to the ongoing delegation of authority to progress actions within the scheme, which were likely to be different for the new Dorset Council.  It was clarified that the delegations would be adjusted to reflect the delegations put in place by the new authority, including those where authority would be placed with Executive Portfolios.

A further view was expressed regarding the opportunity cost of the scheme and whether borrowing the funding to spread across many other areas in Dorset may have a greater positive impact on communities, and whether this would create a greater financial and community return on investment.  Clarification was provided that the scheme was self-financing, and had been recognised as acceptable by the Treasury as it would fund repayment of debt and create a future surplus of £300k.

Clarification was provided by the Interim Monitoring Officer that the Shadow Executive Committee had been invited to support the decisions that had already been made by Weymouth and Portland Borough Council which was needed prior to implementation and if no support was given the Council would not proceed.

Some views were shared with the Committee about the need for appropriate gateways to be in place throughout the scheme regarding draw down of finance, which linked to the delegation arrangements and the evaluation processes that would be in place.  It was noted that tests were included within the financial risk mitigation part of the report which required capability to progress to be demonstrated clearly and robustly.  It was further added that the governance and programme controls would be implicit for the Dorset Council in taking forward the scheme.

Decision

1. That the decision of the Weymouth & Portland Borough Council be supported.

2. That the future arrangements regarding delegations be noted, in that they would be updated to fit the accountability and delegation arrangements for Dorset Council from 1 April 2019.