Issue - meetings

UK GOVERNMENT LEVELLING UP FUNDING – CLWYD SOUTH CONSTITUENCY

RESOLVED that Cabinet delegate authority to the Corporate Director: Economy and Public Realm and Head of Planning, Public Protection and Countryside Services in consultation with the Section 151 Officer, Head of Legal, HR and Democratic Services and the Leader, to agree a bid to be submitted to the UK Government from Denbighshire County Council in partnership with Wrexham County Borough Council for the Constituency of Clwyd South.  This will be following discussions with local Dee Valley Members.

The Leader confirmed the following matter requiring urgent attention –

UK Government Levelling Up Funding – Clwyd South Constituency

The urgency of the report was due to the tight timescales for submission of the bid to enable the Dee Valley to benefit from the significant funding opportunity.

The Leader presented the report (previously circulated as a supplement to the agenda) seeking Cabinet approval to delegate authority for the purposes of agreeing a bid for Levelling Up funding to be submitted to UK Government from Denbighshire County Council in partnership with Wrexham County Borough Council for the Clwyd South Constituency (following discussions with Dee Valley Members).

The purpose of the regeneration funding, which would be delivered through local authorities, was to invest in infrastructure projects.  Bids were based on MP constituency areas of which Denbighshire had three: Vale of Clwyd, Clwyd West and Clwyd South.  There was an initial deadline of 18 June 2021 to submit a bid although other deadlines would be published in due course.  The current report related to Clwyd South with the largest part of the constituency in Wrexham County Borough Council (WCBC) and work had been ongoing to develop a joint bid, with WCBC keen to submit a bid by 18 June 2021. Due to the extremely challenging timescales delegated authority was sought to approve the final bid for submission.  Bids for the Clwyd West and Vale of Clwyd constituencies would be submitted at a later deadline and a Council Briefing would be arranged to consider how best to maximise the funding opportunity and how members could engage in that process.

The Leader elaborated on discussions with Simon Baynes MP and ongoing work to develop the joint bid with WCBC and identifying potentially eligible projects within the Llangollen and Corwen areas.  It was accepted that the process involved a new way of working with officers having to adapt their approach in order to maximise the benefits of the funding opportunity.  The Corporate Director Economy and Public Realm provided an overview of the Levelling Up Funding and implications for Denbighshire, particularly given the constituency based approach and need to work with WCBC on a joint bid for Clwyd South and Conwy County Borough Council for Clwyd West.  Each constituency area could bid up to a maximum of £20m capital funding and the amount of funding would be determined on a competitive basis against a scoring mechanism.  Part of the process involved demonstrating that the bid had both local support and the support of the MP.  £120k revenue funding had been allocated to each local authority to support the development of the bids.  In terms of Clwyd South, WCBC had a long running project for the Trevor Basin and surrounding area which formed part of the World Heritage Site (WHS) and Denbighshire was starting to develop their proposals for the Dee Valley area with confidence that the deadline of 18 June 2021 could be met.  The Public Protection, Regeneration and Economic Development Manager explained that the joint bid focused on the WHS and overarching project ‘Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal WHS and Dee Valley Corridor Tourism Regeneration Scheme’ which included three projects (1) (entirely WCBC) Trevor Basin Masterplan, (2) (Llangollen) visitor movement element within the eleven mile WHS, and (3) (Corwen) visitor movement and providing new entry points to the Dee Valley and WHS.

Dee Valley MAG had discussed the matter and the Leader sought the views of local members.  All local members welcomed the huge opportunity for the area and were fully supportive of the recommendations.  Councillor Graham Timms highlighted a number of potential  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3