Issue - meetings

(Cabinet Member with Special Responsibility Councillor Barry)

Report of the Head of Environmental Services

(Cabinet Member with Special Responsibility Councillor Barry)

Mrs Karen Kay who had registered to speak on this item in accordance with the City Council’s agreed procedure and Cabinet Procedure Rule 2.7, spoke on behalf of Morecambe Festival Market traders and responded to questions from Cabinet Members.

Cabinet received a report from the Head of Environmental Services to provide information in order for Cabinet to agree a direction for improving market provision in Morecambe and also Lancaster.

The options, options analysis, including risk assessment and officer preferred option, were set out in the report as follows:

In terms of strategic options there were in outline basically three-

STRATEGIC OPTION 1- DO NOTHING (MAINTAIN EXISTING FACILITY) - the fabric of the facility will still need some investment to maintain it and address any existing problems; the extent will be informed by the conditions survey.  This may have some impact on the financial standing of the market and the contribution that the market can make towards the Council’s corporate plan. It may mean a lost opportunity to take advantage of the much greater sum of the parts that adopting a strategic view to market provision could offer. This option may also be inconsistent with the MAAP, but it may prove to be the only affordable option.  It would still involve appraisal of current rents.

STRATEGIC OPTION 2- CONSIDER OPTIONS FOR IMPROVING THE EXISTING FACILITY AT MORECAMBE- based on the condition survey currently being undertaken a range of costed solutions for improving the current facility in Morecambe could be brought forward. These would be combined with realistic plans for ensuring the sustainability of the Council’s markets as a whole. It is expected that to implement these considerable investment would be required and market rents would need to increase, so ultimately any options may prove financially unworkable. This option assumed that the best place for a market in Morecambe is the existing location. Development of this option would need to take into account the MAAP.

STRATEGIC OPTION 3- CONSIDER ALL OPTIONS- this differs from OPTION 2 in that it does not assume that the only location for a market in Morecambe is where it currently is. In preparing this option consideration would be given not just to how the current Festival Market could be improved (as per OPTION 2) but to what other options there could be for providing a sustainable market in Morecambe. As with OPTION 2 realistic plans for ensuring the sustainability of the Council’s markets as a whole would also be developed. This option was most consistent with the MAAP, but again it may prove unworkable financially.

Both options 2 and 3 would require an officer working group to develop the options. It was expected that in developing the options consultation would take place with a wide range of stakeholders, obviously including traders, Elected Members, Morecambe Town Council, business representatives, shoppers etc.  To take forward options 2 and 3 thoroughly and within existing resources, it was expected that reports would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54