Issue - meetings

Pat Willoughby presented a report which updated the Board on the progress within the various workstreams and projects agreed previously by this Board as priorities for the WMCA and contained also within the recently published 2019 WMCA Annual Plan. Gareth Bradford also reassured the Board that the WMCA Team brought in, as necessary, specialist additional capacity to ensure work programmes (e.g. town centres, affordable housing, brownfield regeneration) could be delivered.

Marc Lidderth referred to the declaration of a ‘Climate Emergency’ at the meeting of the WMCA Board held on 28 June 2019 and queried whether the Design Charter would make provision for ‘Resilience’. Pat Willoughby confirmed that this matter would be addressed within the wording of the emerging draft document which was being developed jointly by an expert group of local councils, design bodies and the WMCA. The Chair commented on the superb energy efficiency associated with a scheme he sighted that used advanced methods of construction. Gareth Bradford advised that the Team were considering how best to respond to the declaration in all of its work, highlighting specifically the Single Commissioning Framework and Design Charter as examples that would need to be looked at.

Mark Lidderth referred to paragraph 3.24 of the report ad queried whether the draft Regional Design Charter would be presented to the September 2019 meeting rather than September 2020, as stated in the report. Gareth Bradford confirmed this to be the case.

Given the importance of statutory local plans to the achievement of overall housing numbers in the region and that positive progress on local plan production was an important part of the agreement with Government on the Housing Deal the Chair requested that reports on the progress of the various plans be submitted to the Board at least every quarter and a regular item on local plans was included on the Agenda for each future meeting of the Board.

Resolved:

1. That the following items be considered at the September 2019 meeting of the Board:

• Regional Design Charter;
• Pipeline of Intervention Opportunities and update on the implementation of the Single Commissioning Framework (Commercially Sensitive);
• MMC Strategy and Routemap;
• Affordable Housing Delivery Vehicle;
• Town Centre toolkit;

2. That the positive progress in work under the Housing and Land Portfolio in quarter 2 and some of the key work programmes being progressed during the remainder of 2019 be noted;
3. That discussions be continued with the Housing and Land Steering Group and supported working groups on how existing arrangements on engagement, project based governance and working arrangements could be enhanced further between the WMCA, local authorities, the private sector and other organisations;
4. That reports on the progress of the various statutory local plans be submitted to the Board quarterly.