Agenda item

To consider a report by the Leader (copy enclosed) seeking Council’s approval of the West Rhyl Housing Improvement Project (WRHIP) in line with Denbighshire County Council’s Financial Regulations and Project Methodology.

Councillor Hugh Evans (Leader) introduced a report (previously circulated) to obtain Council’s approval to the West Rhyl Housing Improvement Project and delegation of powers to the Project Board. 

Councillor Hugh Evans emphasised the project was a working partnership including Pennaf/Clwyd Alyn Housing Association and the Welsh Government. The Welsh Government were leading on the project and providing the funding.

The project had been divided into blocks:-

Block 1 – properties to be demolished to create the green space.

Block 2 – the council had acquired all but one or two of the properties which would be refurbished by Pennaf/Clwyd Alyn Housing Association and marketed as “Homebuy”  properties, whereby residents would own a majority of equity in the home.

Block 3 – 6 as in report.

Further discussion took place and the officers responded as follows:-

Ø      Previous public sector programmes and grant schemes had failed to regenerate the area, and west Rhyl still have two of the most deprived areas.  The project would achieve a balance of housing as there were too many one bedroom residents in one area.   The project was working to create an improved balance by creation of a green space, remodelling of houses and making them attractive to families.  Addressing the longstanding issues would also assist to create a more positive impression of the town overall and thereby have more far-reaching regeneration benefits.

Ø      Many properties had been acquired as part of the North Wales Coast Regeneration Area and work was ongoing to continue this acquisition.  Denbighshire would seek to acquire properties by agreement but anticipate the use of compulsory purchase powers to obtain a minority of the properties required for the project.

Ø      A Resettlement Officer would be appointed whose role would be to assist residents identify and relocate to new accommodation, whether it be within Denbighshire or even to another county.  Of the residents who had been relocated, a majority wished to continue residing in Rhyl.  There had been 23 relocations to date – 20 within Rhyl and 3 within Prestatyn.

Ø      No designs have been approved for green space to date.  Looking to minimise the cost of maintaining the green space by the possibility of creating a social enterprise who could maintain the space.

Ø      New builds and refurbished properties would be at a very high standard of energy efficiencies.

Ø      Possible financial risk to the council in the third year of this project.  This is a Welsh Government project, funded by the Welsh Government, so responsibilities of financial risk lies with the Welsh Government and not Denbighshire County Council. 

Ø      The West Rhyl Housing Improvement Project is being run as a Prince 2 Methodology Project.  A senior officer had been appointed to act as Project Manager who was a Prince 2 Practitioner.

Ø      Suggested by Members that Internal Audit become involved at an early stage.  The Rhyl Going Forward Manager would look into this. The Head of Housing and Community Development stated he would be meeting with Internal Audit in a couple of weeks whereby he would discuss this project with them.

Ø      The Rhyl Going Forward Manager stated that a report had recently been presented at Cabinet and the map attached to the documents had changed slightly.  The CPO was to now include Gronant Street and other property but would not change the scope of the project in any way.

Ø      A Project Board had been established but due to the Leader being named twice on the Board it was agreed by the WG and County Council that Councillor Hugh Irving become a member of the Board.

Ø      The amount of single bedroom accommodation to be reduced in Rhyl .

The Head of Housing and Community Development (HHCD) explained it was important for the future to regenerate the social structure by working with communities to assist them with offering more training and employment.  It was not the spending of money but how resources were used. 

Resolved that the Council approve the project and delegate the following powers to the Project Board:-

(i)                 provide the strategic guidance and direction for the action-focused delivery of the overall project.

(ii)               Oversee the running and monitoring of the project to ensure that it is delivered to time and to budget.

(iii)             Allocate funding as necessary for each of the work teams within the parameters of the budget delegated on an annual basis from the Minister for Housing, Regeneration and Heritage.

(iv)             Monitor the project risk register.