Report by Head of Place, Property and Regeneration (attached).

Councillor P Leaver declared a non registerable interest and left the room during the consideration of this item.

The Head of Place, Property and Regeneration highlighted the following:

·       The Northern Devon Cultural Strategy: Flourishing Culture was adopted in 2022.

·       To help support the delivery of the Cultural Strategy, external funding was identified through the Cultural Development Fund. An Expression of Interest was submitted in July 2022 and following shortlisting the Council were successful in proceeding to the full application stage. A full bid was prepared and submitted with supporting evidence in November 2022. At the end of March 2023, the Council were informed of their successful funding bid and awarded £3,000,000, alongside its secured match funding of £650,000 to deliver a range of capital and revenue projects across Barnstaple.

·       Following a successful two stage funding bid, led by the Culture Manager; Alison Mills, North Devon Council were awarded £3 million to deliver a range of capital and revenue projects to aid implementation of the Culture Strategy.

·       This “Flourishing Barnstaple” project combined capital investment with activity to re-establish our historic town as the beating cultural heart of northern Devon. The fund will invest in two historic buildings, our townscape, people and organisations to support our creative industries, strengthen our partnerships and make the town a great place in which to live, work, visit and invest.

·       The award funded the interventions as detailed in paragraph 4.3 of the report.

·       The fund was supplemented by £150,000 match funding from the Bridge Trust and £500,000 from North Devon Council (the latter was money that North Devon Council have already agreed as part of the Future High Street Fund programme at Boutport Street).

·       The fund must be spent by March 2026.

·       The internal project team had now been set up and would be managed by Alison Mills; Culture manager. An inception meeting with the Arts Council had now taken place on 23 June 2023 and this included our partners for this project; The Barnstaple Bridge Trust, Barnstaple Town Council, Beaford Arts and Petroc, who will all be instrumental in its delivery. A Partnership Agreement would be entered into with all partners, committing to working together and the outcomes of this project.

In response to questions, the Head of Place, Property and Regeneration advised the following:

·       Beaford Arts would be a conduit for the delivery of Bridge Chambers element of the project as a key tenant and ensure that the Barnstaple Bridge buildings would be used for broader purposes and available to the public to utilise.

·       Tenants had not yet been secured for the 36/37a Boutport Street scheme. 

RESOLVED:

(a)           That the award of the Fund and the projects that would be delivered be noted;

(b)           That authority be delegated to the Head of Place, Property and Regeneration and the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive to enter into such agreements with the Arts Council and partnership agreements with the Bridge Trust in relation to this project;

(c)           That the Cultural Manager be thanked for her hard work in producing a successful bid for funding.

Councillor P. Leaver returned to the room.