Brighton & Hove City Council
Cabinet
2.00pm12 August 2024
Council Chamber, Hove Town Hall
MINUTES
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Present: Councillor Sankey (Chair) Taylor (Deputy Chair), Alexander, Burden, Pumm, Robins, Rowkins and Williams |
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Other Members present: Councillor Shanks
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PART ONE
46 Procedural Business
46a Declarations of interests
46a.1 There were no declarations of interests made in relation to items on the agenda.
46b Exclusion of the press and public
46b.1 In accordance with Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 (“the Act”), the Committee considered whether the public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of any item of business on the grounds that it is likely in view of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during it, there would be disclosure to them of confidential information as defined in Section 100A (3) of the Act.
Resolved
That the public are excluded from the meeting from items listed on Part 2 of the agenda.
47 Chair's Communications
47.1 The Chair provided the following communications:
“This meeting has been called due to the urgent need for a Cabinet decision on additional funding being committed to phase one of the Madeira Terraces project so that work can begin imminently if the decision is to approve the funding and to ensure that there are no further delays. Madeira Terraces are a stunning part of our unique heritage here in Brighton and Hove that we treasure and celebrate along with Black Rock, the King Alfred, and Hove Beach Park scheme. Our administration is accelerating with investing and supporting our seafront. For too long, the terraces have been left to deteriorate. Not only has this led to the terraces looking old and rundown, but they’ve also become a health and safety concern. The Madeira Terrace restoration project is borne out of our very energized community here in Brighton and Hove, passionate about bringing the terraces back into reuse. This is evidenced by the impressive crowdfunding initiative that is contributing almost half a million pounds to the project’s delivery. As such, engagement with the community has been central to the evolution of this project. One of our first acts as a new administration when we were elected last year was to give approval to officers to carry out a tender process to invite bids from contractors to carry out this specialist work on the first phase. This tender process commenced in December last year with an invitation to tender which set out in detail the works required, including full replacement of the upper deck, a newly fully accessible 24-hour lift to ensure accessibility for all of the terraces to the seafront, protecting and re-greening of the green wall which is a designated local wildlife site, and restoration and repainting of the arches with an application that will better withstand coastal conditions. The restoration of such a historic structure is a unique and challenging project that requires highly specialist work, equipment, and materials, and we appreciate that we are seeking to begin the works during a period of relatively high-cost inflation. The original budget for this project was £11.6 million. However, the leading tender response came in over budget. While we’ve been working hard to bring the cost of the project down and officers have identified cost savings, it’s been determined that additional funding will be required to deliver phase one of the project. Cabinet will therefore be asked today to agree the additional funding and proceed with the planned 28 arches and a new fully accessible lift. While this will require more borrowing by the Council, I believe that it is an essential investment for the city and continued regeneration of the Eastern Seafront. There is no doubt that the restoration of the terraces is a hugely complex project, but our administration will not dither and delay like the previous administration, and we’ve convened this special cabinet meeting today to ensure there are no unnecessary delays and to save an additional six-week wait until the next scheduled Cabinet meeting, which is in September. It is also important to be clear that this, in our view, is just the first phase. Our administration will not rest until all the arches have been restored. We have already made a further funding application to Heritage England, and we have tasked officers with thinking laterally around this challenge to give us the best possible chance of finding the funding we need to restore all the Madeira Terraces. To that end today, I’d also like to invite residents, businesses and investors to give us your ideas for the rest of the restoration. I would like to thanks officers for their work in getting the reports ready for us to consider today at short order and to Cabinet colleagues for making themselves available to discuss this important issue for our city we will now move on to today’s business and I will hand over to Councillor Taylor to introduce the report.
48 Public Involvement
48.1 There were none.
49 Issues Raised by Members
49.1 A copy of the questions received was circulated ahead of the meeting. Responses provided are as follows.
(1) Councillor Shanks:
What attempts has the council made to obtain private finance including sponsorship for Madeira terraces for this or future works?
Councillor Taylor:
Thank you for your question, Councillor Shanks. It is worth remembering that there was a successful Crowd Funding Campaign in 2017 that has contributed over £460,000 to the first phase of the project. I want to take the opportunity to reiterate our thanks to the campaign group involved in driving that effort. The council has also explored a range of other options, some of which are related to private sector interest in the Terrace. We are continuing to review funding options and the strategy for future phases, including potential for sponsorship and the involvement of private finance. Any strategy would need to be compliant with guidance from Historic England and ensure that public access to the Terrace is maintained. However, I would also like to add that we are serious about seeking a long-term solution to restoring and maintaining this important and iconic city asset.
(2) Councillor Shanks:
Will the next phase of development be re-examined, including consultation across the city for alternative ideas for the remaining arches, including from the private sector, before continuing on what may be an un-sustainable path?
Councillor Taylor:
The short answer is yes. Indeed, I’d like to take this opportunity to put an initial call out to the city, to funders, and indeed the private sector – please send us your ideas on the future phases on the restoration. It is anticipated that the ‘proof of concept’ restoration of the initial 28 arches provided by the first phase of the project will enable successful funding and grant applications for the next phases. However, the council acknowledges that a sustainable plan for the whole terrace limited to public funding is likely to be challenging and is therefore looking to engage with the wider city to identify potential ‘Brighton friendly’ options for future phases of the restoration, including those involving private sector funding and partners.
50 Matters Referred to the Executive
50.1 There were none.
51 Representations from Opposition Members
51.1 There were none.
52 Madeira Terrace Procurement Update
52.1 Cabinet considered a report that sought agreement on a revised budget to award the contract for restoration of the Madeira Terrace.
52.2 The Cabinet Member for Finance and City Regeneration introduced the report.
52.3 Councillors Burden, Rowkins, Williams, Alexander, Robins, Robinson and Pumm contributed to the debate of the report.
52.4 Cabinet extended thanks to the officers for all their work in preparing the report.
52.5 Resolved-
1) Cabinet agreed an additional £3.0m budget to be included within the general fund Capital Investment Programme to complete the Phase 1 Madeira Terrace Project.
2) Cabinet delegated authority to the Corporate Director – City Services to take all steps necessary to procure and appoint a Construction Partner for the Phase 1 Madeira Terrace Project as outlined in the body of the report.
53 Madeira Terrace Procurement Update - Part 2
As per the Part Two minutes
54 Part Two Proceedings
54.1 Resolved:
That Cabinet agreed that the confidential items listed on the agenda remain exempt from disclosure to the press and public.
The meeting concluded at 2.38pm