That Cabinet supports:

(i)         the submission of a Final Business Case and to delegate the decision, on exact content of the submission, to the Head of Finance;

(ii)        the Council’s investment, in principle, in two key projects included in the Business Case, as set out in paragraph 4.2 of the supporting information to the submitted report; and

(iii)       the prioritisation of projects, as set out in paragraph 2.16 of the supporting information to the submitted report, to be used in the event that the full amount of funding requested is not available.

To support submission of the Business Case, the prioritisation of projects and the ‘in principle’ willingness for the Council to invest in key projects, to show the Council’s continued commitment to regeneration of Paignton Town Centre, especially given the actual and potential impacts of COVID-19, and to ensure the Business Case can be submitted to the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) by the deadline of end July.

Alternative options were set out in the submitted report.

The decision in respect of the Future High Streets Funding for Paignton Town Centre will come into force immediately as the decision maker has decided that any delay likely to be caused by the call-in process would prejudice the Council’s interest.  The Overview and Scrutiny Co-ordinator was consulted on 30 June 2020.

The submitted report sought the support of Cabinet for the submission, to the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), of a Future High Streets Business Case for funding to start the process of transforming Paignton Town Centre.

The Business Case sought investment by Government of £18.8 million in a programme of regeneration that includes seven significant projects in Paignton Town Centre.  The Draft Final Business Case, submitted in March 2020, has changed and will continue to evolve, in line with the content of the submitted report, prior to submission before end July 2020.

The Business Case set out the challenges in Torbay generally and Paignton specifically.  It demonstrated how the proposed programme of work, as a whole, responded to those challenges to deliver sustainable and beneficial outcomes for Paignton Town Centre, including the attraction of further investment. 

Councillor Long proposed and Councillor Carter seconded a motion that was agreed unanimously by the Cabinet as set out above.

None