Agenda item

Committee considered a detailed report which sought approval to recommend to Council the creation of a Senior Economic Development Officer post for Pleasley Vale within the Economic Development Team.

Members had considered redevelopment proposals for the Pleasley Vale site at a meeting of the Executive held in May 2020, and had endorsed a recommendation that flood modelling be undertaken.

The findings of the flood modelling were that a significant proportion of the site was indicated to be located within the predicted flood extent for a 1 in 20 year flood event.  This flood event was often used to determine the extents of the functional floodplain.

The functional floodplain designation would restrict the types of redevelopment that were considered appropriate at the site and it was anticipated that any redevelopment proposals would be limited to a built footprint of no greater than the current built footprint. 

Consequently, the redevelopment proposals previously presented to Executive in May 2020, could not be considered to be feasible because of flood risk, and the redevelopment potential of the site would be severely restricted based on the flood modelling commissioned by the Council.

Aside from flood risk, there were also a number of other constraints on the site that needed to be addressed to de-risk any future planning application and arrive at a credible scheme for redevelopment of Pleasley Vale including:

·         the condition of the buildings;

·         geotechnical;

·         heritage conservation;

·         transport and highways;

·         utilities; and

·         wildlife and ecology. 

A renewed approach towards Pleasley Mills was needed to be able to produce a credible scheme for redevelopment within the next 3 years, as proposed in the Council’s Business Growth Strategy. 

There were also multiple stakeholders within the Council that needed to be properly engaged with the redevelopment of the site. 

To achieve this, a dedicated officer would have oversight of master planning at Pleasley Mills with the specific objective of making a planning application within the next three years.  It was considered that this officer would take on responsibilities and duties most similar to those contained within the person specification of a senior economic development officer and the person specification and job description were attached as appendices to the report.  An appropriate budget would also be needed to allow the officer to commission necessary survey work or technical reports as they were required.

In response to a Member’s question, the Business Growth Manager advised the meeting that on 26^th April 2022, a consultation meeting had taken place with the Pleasley Park and Vale Conservation Area Joint Advisory Group, where a working group was set up, which included the Council’s Leisure staff, Members from Mansfield District and Pleasley Vale Residents Association. 

Moved by Councillor Sandra Peake and seconded by Councillor Duncan McGregor

RECOMMENDED that (1) Council approve a new 3-year fixed term post within the Economic Development Team for the role of Senior Economic Development Officer (Pleasley Vale),

(2) approves the transformation reserves budget of £150,000 to fund the salary and all associated on-costs, subject to job evaluation and consistency checks confirming the grade of the post,

(3) give delegated authority to the Assistant Director of Development and Planning to complete the recruitment and selection of a suitable candidate if the post is scored grade 8 or less,

(4) approves the transformation reserves budget of £100,000 to enable the post holder to undertake all necessary surveys and preparatory works in connection with the master planning and planning application submission.

(Portfolio Holder for Economic Development/Senior Governance Officer (acting))

The Business Growth Manager left the meeting.