Minutes:
Gunnels Wood Road Group
The Board Chair advised that Claire Dicks (MBDA) would be chairing a virtual (Zoom) meeting of the Gunnels Wood Employers Group in January 2023.
Claire explained that the purpose of the Group was to involve as many local employers as possible in the changes and connectivity plans for the area produced by Arup. She would be reaching out to other companies to seek their involvement, and asked any Board members interested in contributing to the first and future meetings to contact her as soon as possible.
Enterprise Centre concept
Tom Pike (SBC Strategic Director) reported that Reef remained interested in developing the Poundland site in Queensway as an Enterprise Centre for life sciences and co-working spaces. Due to the current economic situation, the project presented a greater viability challenge than a year ago. There was also the possibility of integrating elements of the scheme with other sites in the town. There was a continued appetite to look at various scheme options over the next 3 to 6 months.
Ed Jordan (WENTA) offered to provide advice and assistance on this project, if required.
Investment Zones update
Patsy Dell (Hertfordshire County Council) advised that the HCC Investment Zone submission to the Government, which had focussed on the Stevenage and Ware industrial areas, had been one of 12 submitted to the Government.
Patsy commented that there had been no feedback from the Government, and there had been an indication in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement that the Investment Zones concept may not be progressed. However, HCC was determined to continue the legacy of the work going forward should the Investment Zones idea or something similar emerges in the future.
Tom Pike agreed to meet with Claire Dicks to discuss the data that had been used in formulating the Gunnels Wood Road element of the submission.
Station Gateway
Tom Pike (SBC Strategic Director) advised that the ambitions for the Stevenage Railway Station were part of the Stevenage Gateway Area Action Plan. He commented that the station was very busy (over 3.384M journeys per year and over 800,000 interchanges). However, the Station had limited arrival space, the right of way across the station had a limited width of only 4 metres; and its overall look was dated.
Tom referred to and summarised three concepts for the Station drawn up by Arup a number of years ago. These had been re-visited by Nicholls, a consultant specialising in the regeneration of railway stations.
Rebecca Collings (Nicholls) presented an updated concept for the Station, with visuals showing how a regenerated area would look with a reconfiguration of Lytton Way and a connection from the level of the street to the level of the station.
Rebecca presented visuals relating to regeneration schemes of other station areas, including Reading Station and Oxford Station.
Rebecca explained that avenues to be explored in relation to the Stevenage Station project would include drawing up a robust economic case; engaging local business representatives; exploring funding opportunities; and engaging Network Rail in the process. She referred to the strategic objectives for the project as follows:
1. Supporting our economy – supporting and developing the local, regional and national economy as the station created a new “arrivals lounge” for Stevenage.
2. Supporting our economy – better links to other UK life sciences and STEM centres in London, Oxford and Cambridge.
3. Improving connectivity – establish Stevenage station as a regional rail hub, with connectively across Hertfordshire, East-West and North-South.
4. Improving connectivity – improve accessibility and physical connection across the town, making the station an enabler, not a barrier.
5. Improving connectivity – get more people onto the train as the preferred mode of travel into and out of Stevenage.
6. Improving connectivity – promote connectivity with sustainable public transport, cycle and pedestrian connections.
7. Improving connectivity – minimise disruption to passengers and rail services during construction.
8. Delivering high-quality urban realm – improve the functionality and appearance of the station.
9. Delivering high-quality urban realm – support regeneration of the wider station area.
10. Delivering high-quality urban realm – optimise development opportunities, with balanced mixed use.
11. Delivering high-quality urban realm – future-proof the structural capability of the station to support further regeneration in the longer term.
Rebecca referred to the next steps for the project which included commissioning an economic study and cost analysis; early engagement with select local stakeholders; the planning of potential site visits; mapping of funding opportunities; and further engagement with Network Rail.
Councillor Richard Henry (Stevenage Borough Council) asked that the cultural ambitions for Stevenage be referenced in the project documentation.
In respect of the strategic objective relating to better links to other UK life sciences and STEM centres in London, Oxford and Cambridge, Kasia Averall (Catapult) stated that a project had recently commenced aimed at connecting up the life sciences clusters in London and Stevenage. Catapult had produced a white paper for the project, which she offered to present to the Board in the future.
Officers were asked to circulate the powerpoint slides for the presentation, so that Board Members could respond to any of the issues raised.