Agenda item
SPOTLIGHT: High Streets and Town Centres - Supporting new and existing business
Fiona Crehan, High Streets and Town Centres Manager - Report to follow.
18:40-19:50 (1hr 10 mins)
Minutes:
[The Chair decided to change the order of business so the Draft Open Spaces Scrutiny Report was discussed first followed by the spotlight on High Streets and Town Centres. For improved readability the minutes will follow the order published on the agenda].
The Committee received the report and presentation of Fiona Crehan (High Streets and Town Centres Manager) on supporting new and existing businesses on the high street.
In response to the presentation the following discussions took place:
Ben Johnson Road
A Member asked if there were plans to renovate the Ben Johnson Road area and if the council had powers to change the use of units into retail outlets as opposed to the varied nature of the businesses. Officers responded that Ben Johnson Road had been identified as a potential scheme but resources had been allocated to higher priority areas. Officers mentioned that they could look at delivering small initiatives, to support businesses, improve attractiveness and offer but were hesitant to overstretch funds that had already been allocated to schemes.
With regard to the change of use query, officers explained that it was up to the landlord of a property to apply for a change of use classification. They said planning officers would only get involved if there was significant evidence that the unit was not a viable use of its existing classification.
ACTION: For the Enterprise Team to explore the growth of businesses at Ben Johnson Road and for Fiona Crehan to find out if there were any funds available to do a small scale project in the Ben Johnson Road area.
Concentrations of the same type of business
Members queried if there was anything that could be done to prevent the concentration of the same type of businesses in one area. Officers explained that the council could not force a business to close and that in some cases the concentration of businesses made commercial sense. For example the Indian wedding outlet shops in Bethnal Green were in direct competition with similar outlets in Green Street West Ham which was located outside the borough.
Community Cohesion
Members thanked the highstreets team for their work on Roman Road West which they said was urgently needed.
Members asked officers whether there was any community cohesion work in the pipeline. A Member had noted that some coffee shops for example were expensive and perceived to be inaccessible to the wider community. Officers explained that it was up to the business to set their prices and many had little opportunity to reduce prices due to high business rates and business loans.
Officers said the highstreets team was able to broker introductions between businesses and community groups to boost the business and to help it become an asset to the community. They also said they could ask business owners i.e. coffee shops to think about how they might attract more customers and advise them to use social media to attract new customers, facilitate meet up events and parent coffee mornings during less busy periods.
Supporting female entrepreneurs
Officers informed the Committee that there was increasing appetite from female entrepreneurs to trade from market stalls, currently a predominately male dominated profession. The Committee was informed that female entrepreneurs reported that they would feel more confident if there were more women working at the markets. The service informed the Committee that it had reserved a section of Petty Coat Lane market to support women to trade at market stalls. .
Toilets at Brick Lane
Councillor Choudhury raised a concern regarding the lack of toilets in Brick Lane. Officers acknowledged this was an ongoing issue. They said they had attempted to install urinals on the street but it was difficult given the proximity to people’s homes or business which sparked objections. Businesses were also reluctant to allow non-customers to use their facilities. Closed facilities were not an option as they would result in drug use in the stalls. Officers said the team were looking into joining with the City of London toilet app.
Street lighting at Brick Lane
Councillor Choudhury informed that streetlights 8, 10 and 14 were not working and that no action has been taken further to a Streetline submission. He said he was considering raising the issue in a Member Enquiry. Fiona Crehan noted the issue and said she would follow up on it with the councillor outside of the meeting.
Following a request from the committee to include more greenery in Brick Lane, the Committee was informed that it would have to be in the form of planters because the ground was not viable for direct planting.
The Brick Lane Arch
The Committee applauded the work commissioned on the Brick Lane arch.
Meeting the housing and retail needs of a growing population
Councillor Wood was concerned that planners were not taking into consideration the impact of significant population growth, due to new high density developments, and the retail infrastructure needs of new and existing communities. He stressed the importance of ensuring retail and infrastructure needs of new and existing communities needed to be anticipated. He raised concerns that there did not appear to be any efforts to address the issue, particularly in the Isle of Dogs area.
Officers acknowledged the challenge and said it would require a tailored approach. They said retailers were exploring alternative methods of shopping for customer convenience and regeneration has made a positive impact on the footfall in Crisp Street as an example. Though they agreed a longer term approach would be required and agreed to talk to the planning and regeneration team about the issue. The Committee asked Fiona and Simon to return to the Committee at a future meeting to provide an update on their discussions.
London Living Wage
The was a discussion around what the council could do to ensure those employed on the high street were earning London Living Wage. Officers said there was an awareness programme run by the council that helped business owners become London Living Wage employers. There had not been a subsidy placed on smaller businesses to join the scheme as the council was not allowed to differentiate between a small business and a large corporation such as a bank. It was noted that though the council could conduct awareness raising work around the living wage they were not allowed to dictate how an employer ran their business. It was noted however that the council as one of the largest employers of the borough, did have procurement rules in place when commissioning certain services to ensure they were London Living Wage compliant
It was also mentioned that the Committee would be looking at Development of Council policy on London Living wage at the next Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee meeting.
Town Centres & Regeneration Exhibition Event(s)
Fiona and Simon invited Members to take park in upcoming regeneration events regarding high streets and town centres. Officers sought the advice of the Committee on what topics could be covered and what format this could take. Councillor Choudhury requested the seminar be made public because he wanted to invite a cohort of business owners and residents to the event.
ACTION: For Fiona to speak to the planning and regeneration team about their plans for retail and community infrastructure in the context of high population growth and density in the borough (particularly in the Isle of Dogs area) and come back to the Committee with an update.
ACTIONS: Housing Committee Councillors to get in touch with Fiona and Simon to provide advice on the town centre regeneration engagement events.
ACTIONS: for the events to be listed in the Members circular and Members Hub.
RESOLVED:
- To note the presentation.
Supporting documents:
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High Streets Town Centres - Supporting new and existing businesses Final, item 4.
PDF 275 KB
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Housing Regneration Scrutiny Agenda Item ... HS&TC - supporting new and ..., item 4.
PDF 2 MB