Agenda item
PRESENTATION FROM THE CHURCHGATE RESURGENCE GROUP
Decision:
Mr John Wyer of the Churchgate Resurgence Group thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee and gave a verbal presentation supported with plans and drawings.
The Chairman thanked Mr Wyer for his informative presentation and attendance at the meeting.
Minutes:
Audio recording – Start of Item – 39 minutes 44 seconds
Mr John Wyer of the Churchgate Resurgence Group thanked the Vice-Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee and gave a verbal presentation supported with plans and drawings including:
· Hitchin was an historic market town;
· The future of retail was changing;
· The Future High Streets Fund gave an opportunity to reset Hitchin Town Centre to adapt to trends;
· To make High Streets relevant and vibrant in the era of online shopping an experience based economy was needed that would give people a reason to come into town;
· The refurbishment of Churchgate and Hitchin Market could be transformative and benefit the whole District:
· NHDC owned the freehold of Churchgate and the surrounding land, therefore was in a key position to realise the potential of the whole area;
· Churchgate Resurgence PB had put forward a vision for Churchgate and the surrounding area;
· The vision was for flexible sized retail space as well as social and market sale housing;
· A hub for arts and wellness could provide North Herts with an alternative to St Albans;
· An adaptive riverside walk would enhance footfall and the natural flow around the town;
· Rationalising and increasing parking would increase capacity and generate more income;
· A new creatively curated market was proposed in a light airy building including street food. This would be a competitive alternative to places like London and St Albans;
· They had been inspired by Altringham, where a failing High Street had had a completely positive turn around, due to provision of a market charging low rent, shop leases and had been given an attractive, co-ordinated look. All of this had been achieved for less than £1 million;
· North Herts needed to find ways of attracting and keeping people in the face of competition.
The following Members entered into the debate or asked questions:
· Councillor Paul Clark;
· Councillor Martin Stears-Handscomb;
· Councillor Simon Harwood;
· Councillor Richard Thake.
The Churchgate Resurgence Group were thanked for the work they were carrying out and it was hoped the momentum would continue.
The Vice-Chairman thanked Mr Wyer for his informative presentation and attendance at the meeting.
The Vice-Chairman read a statement from Councillor Ian Albert as follows:
“Reasons why North Herts Councillors should support a Hitchin FHS bid for reviving Hitchin’s town centre;
Hitchin was the market town and retail hub of North Herts, but its market is failing and the future of retail is changing.
The Government’s new Future High Street Fund presented an opportunity to reset Hitchin’s town centre to adapt to future needs and trends.
· A new experience-based economy was required to keep town centres vibrant, and a revitalised curated market with a new street food hall could be the catalyst for this in Hitchin’
· For North Herts to thrive, each town needed to have a strong, differentiated and complementary offer;
· The new Churchgate Resurgence ideas offered opportunities for addressing retail decline in North Herts in a way that did not undermine other towns;
· The ideas also aimed to create local employment and address housing needs, including a proportion of social housing;
· They aimed to provide a new community hub focused on the arts and wellness, and to cater for a broad age range;
· A bid for Hitchin also offered opportunities to address public transport and parking issues which would allow greater connectivity.
Any scheme for Churchgate must represent value for money for local residents and be affordable. There were also positive ripples that the Churchgate improvements could produce for North Herts such as:
· building Hitchin’s attraction as a tourist destination;
· enhancing its historic character;
· generating a greater contribution to North Herts revenue (Hitchin provides 71% of NHDC’s parking revenue); and finally
· the domino effect that could result in this project becoming a beacon for Hertfordshire.”
It was proposed and seconded that this statement, with the words “Hitchin market is struggling” replacing the words “Hitchin Market is failing” in the second sentence be endorsed and considered by Council.
RESOLVED: That the statement presented by Councillor Albert above, amended as proposed, be considered by Council.