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Report to:
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Lead Member for
Transport and Environment
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Date of
meeting:
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20 November
2023
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By:
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Director of
Communities, Economy and Transport
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Title:
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Hastings Towns Fund -
Grant Funding Agreement with Hastings Borough Council
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Purpose:
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To approve East Sussex
County Council, as the scheme delivery partner, entering into a
grant funding agreement with Hastings Borough Council in relation
to the Hastings Town Centre Public Realm and Green Connections
project.
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RECOMMENDATIONS:
The Lead
Member is recommended to:
(1)
Approve East Sussex
County Council, as the scheme delivery partner, entering into a
grant funding agreement with Hastings Borough Council in relation
to the £9,754,458 of Town Fund
allocated for the delivery of the Hastings Town Centre Public Realm
and Green Connections project: and
(2)
Delegate authority
to the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport, in
consultation with the Chief Finance Officer and Assistant Chief
Executive, to negotiate and agree the terms of the grant funding
agreement between Hastings Borough Council and East Sussex County
Council.
1
Background Information
1.1.
The town of Hastings was awarded £24.4m from the
Government’s Towns Fund programme in November 2019. The aim
of the funding programme is to drive the economic regeneration of
Hastings to deliver long term economic and productivity growth
through investment in urban regeneration, infrastructure, and
connectivity.
1.2.
Hastings was one of 101 towns eligible to bid for up to £25
million from the Towns Fund, with Hastings Borough Council (HBC)
designated as the lead organisation for managing the development of
the Town Deal, including the Town Investment Plan (TIP). The
programme, which was built around seven project themes, offers
Hastings an incredible and exciting opportunity to drive forward
sustainable growth and prosperity, ensuring that Hastings will
continually thrive as a healthy, vibrant, and innovative seaside
town that attracts people to visit, live, and work in.
1.3.
The Hastings Town Centre Public Realm and
Green Connections project will build on the character of
Hastings as an energetic and creative coastal community to support
resurgence of its centre as a thriving, well-connected and healthy
place. This will be achieved through the delivery of high quality,
relevant and catalytic public realm initiatives, bringing nature
into the town and promoting active travel.
1.4.
The County Council supported HBC in the development of a business
case for £3.38m of Towns Fund for the first phase of the
Hastings Town Centre Public Realm and Green Connections. This was
approved by the Towns Deal Board in September 2022. In early 2023
the Towns Deal Board identified further funding available to the
project. The County Council supported the development of a
secondary business case for an additional £6.91m to include a
wider project boundary. This business case was approved in May
2023, and after HBC spend, there is a total of £9,754,458
secured, in addition to £400k match funding from the Local
Growth Fund.
2
Supporting Information
Hastings Town Centre Public Realm
and Green Connections project
2.
2.1.
The scheme focusses on the Havelock Road and Harold Place corridor
supporting the ease of movement from the rail station as a key
gateway into the town, through the heart of the town centre and
across the A259, which runs parallel to the seafront promenade, to
the beach beyond. This will be achieved by removing vehicular
carriageway and reallocating road space for pedestrian and cycle
infrastructure as well as improvements to the junctions to
encourage safe and permeable movement at either end of the
corridor.
2.2.
A central, adaptable public space will be created at the confluence
of Havelock Road, Queens Road, Harold Place and Robertson Street,
known as ‘Albert Circus’ or ‘The Haven’, to
provide a focal point which can accommodate a range of events,
activities and festivals across the year. The town centre’s
public realm will be improved along the Havelock Road/Harold Place
corridor, as well as in Wellington Place towards the Albert Road
underpass.
2.3.
This will be complemented with increased tree planting and the
introduction of biodiverse ecologies that brings together urban,
and coastal landscapes that reflect Hastings’ character.
2.4.
The proposals have been developed to date to RIBA2 stage (Royal
Institute of British Architects concept design stage) to reflect
the need for improvements in the town centre identified through
previous consultation exercises with stakeholders, taking account
of the views and ideas that came forward through the development of
the Hastings Town Deal on the town centre, active travel and
increasing biodiversity, and also more recent engagement with key
stakeholders on the challenges and opportunities in the town
centre.
2.5.
Elements of this scheme include, but are not limited to, the
enhanced pedestrian footways, Sustainable Urban Drainage System
(SuDS) planting, segregated two-way cycle lane which is compliant
with the Government’s Local Transport Note 1/20 on cycle
design, one-way bus lane with new bus stops, alongside the
potential re-routing of a one-way bus route along Queens Road.
Grant Funding
Agreement
2.6.
Following their successful Towns Fund bid, Hastings Borough Council
has entered into a grant funding agreement with the Government to
receive their £24.4m Towns Deal allocation.
2.7.
The County Council, acting as a delivery partner for the Hastings
Town Centre Public Realm and Green Connections element of
Hastings’ Towns Deal package, will be required to enter into
a grant funding agreement with Hastings Borough Council to enable
the £9,754,458 of Towns Fund funding allocation to be
defrayed to enable delivery by the end of the Towns Fund funding
period on 31March 2026.
2.8.
The County Council has completed the concept design stage for the
Hastings Town Centre Public Realm and Green Connections project and
has procured transport consultants, ARUP to begin the preliminary
designs and public consultation and engagement elements of the
programme; a Key Decision was taken by the Director of Communities,
Economy and Transport on 22 September 2023 to carry out a direct
procurement award. Current cost estimates indicate that the Towns
Fund allocation will fund the design and delivery of the scheme,
however exact details of costs will be achieved through detailed
design development and in discussions with Hastings Borough
Council.
2.9.
East Sussex County Council has reviewed the draft grant funding
agreement from Hastings Borough Council. To address financial
risks, additional clauses have been proposed to ensure both parties
(Hastings Borough Council and East Sussex County Council) agree
that if the intended scope of the project may result in overspend,
methods of amending and de-scoping the project, to ensure an
overspend is not incurred and the integrity and core outcomes of
the project are maintained, will be agreed.
Programme
Delivery
2.10
The current delivery programme for the project will see preliminary
design, engagement, public consultation, and the development of the
detailed design continue throughout 2023/24, with planning
applications to be submitted Spring 2024. Detailed design and
construction to be procured through the East Sussex County Council
Highways Contract is programmed to commence in April 2024 with
construction due to complete by March 2026.
3 Conclusion
and Reasons for Recommendations
3.
3.1.
In 2019 Hastings Borough Council successfully secured £24.4m
from the Government’s Towns Fund programme towards driving
the economic regeneration of Hastings to deliver long term economic
and productivity growth, through investment in urban regeneration,
infrastructure, and connectivity. The Hastings Town Centre Public
Realm and Green Connections project builds on the character of
Hastings and will deliver a high-quality public realm improvement
that will support revival of its centre whilst also bringing nature
into the town and promoting active travel.
3.2.
The County Council, acting as the scheme delivery body, will be
required to enter into a grant funding agreement with Hastings
Borough Council to defray the funding allocation to the County
Council, progress the consultation, detailed design and
construction by the end of the Towns Fund period on 31 March 2026.
A grant funding agreement will also reiterate precisely what the
body is being asked to do and provide reasons for proposed course
of action.
3.3.
The Lead Member is therefore recommended to approve East Sussex
County Council entering into a grant funding agreement with
Hastings Borough Council in relation to the £9,754,458 of
Towns Fund allocated to the Borough Council for the delivery of the
Hastings Town Centre Public Realm and Green Connections project;
and delegate authority to the Director of Communities, Economy, and
Transport, in consultation with the Chief Finance Officer and
Assistant Chief Executive to negotiate and agree the terms and
conditions of the grant agreement.
Director of Communities, Economy
and Transport
Contact Officer: Ellie
McDaniel, Project Manager, Scheme Delivery
Email: Ellie.McDaniel@eastsussex.gov.uk
LOCAL
MEMBERS
Councillor Godfrey
Daniel (Hastings - Braybrooke and Castle)
BACKGROUND
DOCUMENTS
Hastings Town Investment Plan
Town Centre Public Realm & Green Connections — Hastings
Town Deal