In the interests of transparency, Cllr Cunningham declared that he was an employee of the Bradford Culture Company (minute number 90)

Action: City Solicitor

Recommended –

That the minutes of the meeting held on 22 February 2022 be signed as a correct record (previously circulated).

(Su Booth – 07814 073884)

Resolved –

That the minutes of the meeting held on 22 February 2022 be signed as a correct record.

Action: City Solicitor

Any referrals that have been made to this Committee up to and including the date of publication of this agenda will be reported at the meeting.

There were no referrals to the Committee.

(Access to Information Procedure Rules – Part 3B of the Constitution)

Reports and background papers for agenda items may be inspected by contacting the person shown after each agenda item.  Certain reports and background papers may be restricted. 

Any request to remove the restriction on a report or background paper should be made to the relevant Strategic Director or Assistant Director whose name is shown on the front page of the report. 

If that request is refused, there is a right of appeal to this meeting. 

Please contact the officer shown below in advance of the meeting if you wish to appeal. 

(Su Booth – 07814 073884)

There were no appeals submitted to review decisions to restrict documents.

The report of the Strategic Director, Place Document “V”) will be submitted to the Committee and provides a progress-so-far update on the first eight months of activity in regard to the new 10-year cultural strategy for the district.

Recommended –

That Members comment on any aspect of the report.

(Nicola Greenan – 07866 005482)

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “V”) was submitted to the Committee to provide Members with an update on the progress made during the first eight months of activity on the new 10-year cultural strategy for the District.   The presentation to members came in light of the announcement that Bradford had been shortlisted for the 2024 City of Culture status award. 

A new cultural strategy was launched in March 2021.  ‘Culture is our Plan’ was made up of 10 ambitions/actions and was adopted by the Council Executive.

The report was broken down into headings for each ambition giving an overview of the aim of each one, a ‘What we’ll do’ and ‘progress to date’ section.

Officers advised that the District would not have been shortlisted for the City of Culture award without the ‘Culture is our Plan’ strategy and stated that the ambitions were ‘living, deliverable and active.’ The plan included feasibility studies to attract funding as and when it became available.  The strategy would redefine what culture meant and would represent the District’s demographic.  Members were also shown a short film called ‘Bradford Unlocked’

The 10 ambitions were:

·         Creativity thrives in every corner of the district

·         Making the most of what we have

·         Making the most of who we are

·         Network capacity

·         Thinking big

·         Live life better

·         Creating an explosion of opportunity

·         Having fun 

·         Bradford will know itself better

·         We will tell our own story

The meeting was attended by local representatives who each addressed Members providing them with their own view on the impact the plan is having on them as they were directly involved.  They each explained how they were enabled to be involved.

The people Powered Press representative explained how it had evolved and defined it as ‘what it is to be the North’.  The press had been relocated from Leeds to Shipley which reinforced the potential impact the strategy was having and could have going forward.  A Community Interest Company (CIC), the People Powered Press was working with 16 different community groups across the district and had an open door for all every Friday. Paid workshops would subsidise non-income generating activities.

A ‘music instigator’ also attended and provided a passionate and animated presentation of what was being done.  These included working on busking guidelines for professional level buskers, supporting artists and linking them up with industry professionals and providing advice on grants and funding opportunities, supporting promoters and work with Bradford Football Club and BCP Radio among a number of other projects.  She further stated that music had the power to bring people together and wanted live music to continue, to inspire young people and give performance opportunities.

The next presenter was a Social Designer from a company called Fayakunu who explained how the work undertaken would help address some issues specifically aiming to help young men, refugees, and provide space for the senior community members to improve mental health through the Arts.  His presentation included details of a space that was being  ...  view the full minutes text for item 90.

Report of the Strategic Directors of Health and Wellbeing, Place and Acting Strategic Director of Children’s Services (Document “W”) will be submitted to the Committee to provide an update on School Streets projects and the development of a Play Streets approach within the Bradford district.

Recommended –

That the report be noted.

(Sarah Exall, Andrew Smith, Michael Bunting)

(07582 102287/07970 828849)

The report of the Strategic Directors of Health and Wellbeing, Place and the Acting Strategic Director for Children’s Services (Document “W”) was submitted to the Committee to provide an update on Active Travel – School Streets and Play Streets from the last report that was submitted in 2020.

The aim of the project was intended to improve the safety and quality of the streets around 9 pilot schools in different areas of the District and to have a  positive impact on local residents, parents and children.

The project had been introduced following a motion at the Council meeting in July 2019 and was being explored by 3 key services; Health and Wellbeing, Place and Children’s Services.

Following the motion, a report was submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee with the proposals for the scheme and it was resolved that a further report be submitted on the outcome of the pilot.

School Streets proposed to address the congestion and pollution around schools at the start and finish of school days.  This involved a street being closed to traffic temporarily to encourage alternative modes of travel.  It was hoped that it would increase the numbers of children walking to school or using an alternative mode of travel for all or part of the journey to and from school.

There were a number of factors that were considered when choosing the pilot schools including the pre-existing air quality, highways constraints and engagement with Active Travel partners and ‘matched funding’ support.

Following consultation with the schools, residents and other stakeholders, the 9 schools began the pilot in June 2021.

Officers reported that there was a significant presence on site at the start of the scheme and zones were mostly well adhered to.  Positive feedback indicated that there was a feeling of better safety with a more pleasant and calmer environment.

Since the launch, however, it had become clear that signage was not enough and Officers were engaging with schools to see what can be done to sustain the project.

A representative from public health also attended and addressed the committee and reiterated the aims in terms of the safer and calmer start and finish to the school day.  Expectations needed to be managed and that traffic would be reduced but the issues would not be alleviated completely.  There was a concern that some drivers were complying but some were not, leading to potential conflict. 

Officers from Bradford were working in partnership with Tower Hamlets to bring school streets in to share best practice and ideas.  Traffic counts and surveys had been carried out before the start of the scheme and would be done again at the end of the pilot.  Children were also wearing sensors to monitor air quality and an evaluation of the scheme would be carried out at completion.

Play Streets – draft guidance had been drawn up but the scheme had not gone ahead due to Covid 19 but it would be reviewed.

Members were then given the opportunity to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 91.

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “X”) will be submitted to the Committee to provide an update on progress with city centre regeneration since the previous report of 12 February 2020.

Recommended –

That Members are asked to consider the contents of the report.

(Angela Blake – 01274 434093)

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “X”) was submitted to the Committee to provide Members with an update from the report submitted in February 2020.  Bradford District’s ambition was to be the UK’s fastest growing economy over the coming decade.  Covid 19 had adversely impacted footfall in the city centre, which remained the focus for the Council as part of the wider approach to economic growth across the whole District.  In order to compete, the city centre had to be a liveable and vibrant place to attract and retain businesses.  

The report contained details of projects undertaken and completed as part of The City Centre Growth Scheme which was created in 2012 to address challenges being faced in the city centre, focussing on a number of sectors which are listed below:

·         Retail – The Broadway Shopping Centre, despite the impacts of Covid the Broadway shopping centre continued to report increasing visitor numbers

·         Sparkling Bradford – the campaign was shortlisted for the Travel/Leisure Content Campaign of the Year aiming to boost the region’s economy, as well as showcase visitor experiences across the District

·         The Cultural Offer – major refurbishment to St George’s Hall

·         The evening and night time economy – helping to create a safe, vibrant and well balanced offer

·         Bradford UNESCO City of Film – in its eleventh year and still going from strength to strength

·         City centre developments – major transformation of the centre over the following 3 years

·         One City Park – to help address the shortage of grade A office space in the city centre

·         City centre markets – demolition and development of a state of the art building to deliver a modern, multi-level market offer

·         Bradford Live – redevelopment and conversion of former Odeon Cinema building to strengthen the range of live cultural and conference events hosted

·         Station Gateways – both city centre stations redeveloped to provide high quality gateways to the city

·         New state of art Coroners Court building - a vital provision for families and communities of Bradford, Kirklees and Calderdale.

·         City centre residential developments – to provide an excellent city centre place to call home

·         Townscape Heritage Scheme - Centred inthe “Top of Town” area of the Bradford City Centre Conservation Area, to support property owners to improve heritage buildings

·         Top of Town Public Realm Improvements - Building on the public realm improvements being delivered as part of the Townscape Heritage scheme, the proposal would enhance the streetscape at North Parade, Rawson Square and Northgate

·         Transforming Cities Fund - funding has been made available by the Department for Transport to enable core cities and regions to bid for projects that improve productivity by investing in public and sustainable transport infrastructure across the City.

Following the Officers’ presentation, Members were then given the opportunity to comment and ask questions, the details of which, and the responses given are as below.

·         What was there in the plans for children and young people e.g. playgrounds – was it part of ‘Transforming Cities’ for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 92.