Agenda item

To receive a report from Councillor Wright, the Portfolio Holder Culture and City Centre Strategy.

Councillor Wright reported on her Portfolio for Culture, and City Centre Strategy and detailed the issues relating to achieving the Council’s published priorities, major ongoing programmes of work, issues impacting delivery, financial performance, budget requirements and potential changes being considered.

She responded to the following advance question from a Member and the response was set out in italics below:-

What reassurances can be provided that the boarded off sections of the wall will be unboarded before the end of this calendar year. If so, such reassurances can be given what solutions are currently being explored to replace the ineffective and ugly metal fencing which is on so many parts of the city wall. Additionally, when was the date of the last quinquennial inspection of the wall?

The delivery of works to the City Wall would be completed when sufficient resources are identified to complete the works.  As Members are aware we recently tendered for a scheme to deliver one element, but the cost of the tenders was significantly over budget. Delivery is also dependant on the successful implementation of relevant aspects of the Corporate Property Assets restructure and consultant and contractor availability.  In the current climate this is particularly difficult, especially when dealing with such a specialist asset as the Wall.

Removal of the fencing will take place once works commence (if an alternative site hoarding is installed) or once the works are completed. The latest inspection of the City Wall was made in 2020.

The Council’s Heritage Officer had been looking at other cities with Roman walls and heritage to see if there were any opportunities for external funding for maintenance, but there was no extra Government funding available. The Roman Wall in Exeter was an integral part of the city’s heritage and culture and the Director and City Surveyor were working with the Leader.

The Member appreciated that finding funding sources was about exploring temporary solutions. She also raised an issue of graffiti on a section of the wall in Southernhay, which had been discussed with the Public Realm team and was the subject of a report from English Heritage.

The Portfolio Holder referred to a recent Heritage meeting with the Director when a different approach to maintenance was considered, looking at eight sections of the wall rather than the structure as a whole, to seek grant funding in a different way, concentrating on the sections that were the most prominent or least safe which had to be the primary concern.

The Portfolio Holder made the following responses to Members’ questions :-

·         the cost of running the recent Safer Streets project in the city with appropriately trained staff which included paramedics and security was significant. InExeter had partnered with the Police, the University of Exeter as well as the Exeter Community Safety Partnership and obtained a one-off pot of Government funding. She had met with the Chair of InExeter to see if there were any other opportunities for future funding as members of the public and of the night time economy had found the service invaluable. A funding bid for a business case through the Community Safety Partnership would explore a different model using more volunteers, alongside professional staff.

·         an update and Member Briefing on the Digital Transformation project would be held after the City Council Elections in May. The roll out of Office 365 was already underway along with information on how that will affect Council users including outward facing customers.

·         a leak to the roof of the Barnfield Theatre had been fixed. The Council had a lease agreement for the Barnfield, with the Northcott Theatre who had taken over the management and revitalised the space.

·         Work through the Exeter Community Safety’s Partnership, Anti Social Sub Group did not include a public health approach but work was ongoing through Devon County Council, Colab, and the NHS.

·         she would make an enquiry about an issue of coaches idling and parking in South Street.

·         the City Wall in Bartholomew cemetery was part of the cityscape and discussions were taking place on making the wall safe. She anticipated that a triennial inspection would take place in 2025, and as stated earlier in her report, a different approach to view the maintenance of sections of the wall  and that survey work will commence shortly.

·         a report on the Police and Crime Commissioner and Devon and Cornall Police was made at the latest Panel meeting. Further training had been identified to redress the issues raised in relation to the issues raised  The Acting Chief Constable, Jim Cowell had been present and offered reassurance of the changes that were going to be made.

·         the Culture Sub group on the Exeter Place Board were due to meet in the next six weeks and will discuss the terms of reference. The membership would include representatives of the Place Board.

The Portfolio Holder report was noted.