Meeting documents

The report,circulatedwiththe Agenda was introduced by Councillor Dewdney and presented by the Locality Manager.

The report updated Members on the recent progress made with The Onion Collective, and sought approval of the lease on part of the land at Easy Quay, Watchet, and approval of a loan to bridge their reducing funding gap.

Each of these aspects supported The Onion Collective in their bid to the Coastal Communities Fund (CCF) for up to £5m of the overall development cost of £7m.

This report followed on from an all Member update briefing on the proposed development and bid for grant funding that took place on 12^th December 2018.

The Member briefing on 12^th December 2018 set out in detail the proposals of how the Onion Collective would develop and operate the site, including a question and answer session for Members to understand all aspects of the development and its mix of uses. Whilst this report focused on the lease a number of the key benefits were been set out:

·         37  new direct jobs on the developed site

·         166 new indirect jobs due to the increased tourism spend to the West Somerset area (valued at £6.7m per annum)

·         17 safeguarded jobs

·         76 construction jobs, for the duration of the build

·         Develop and fund the access road to the development and for the remainder of the site. (£300k - £400k)

·         Additional business rates for the council that could reach up to £960k over a decade, however this is subject to the occupants of the units.

·         Approximately £230,000 in additional parking revenue over a decade.

·         Bringing in £5m-£7m in external regeneration funding to the district.

·         Delivering multi-layered social benefits to the tune of £3m per annum (wellbeing, culture, aspiration, mental health).

·         Creating an arts/cultural and social enterprise development with a national profile, closely aligned with the interests of government.

A lengthydebateensuedandthe followingmainpointswereraised:

·         This was an important development for Watchet and due to the history of the project there could be further lengthy delays if the recommendations were not passed.

·         Further information was requested on the activities the onion collective within the last few years. Another project they had delivered successfully was the Minehead Eye.

·         It was recognised that further work was required to attract more people into the area and fulfil community ambitions.

·         There were some reservations in the approval of the commercial loan and alternative projects that could be funded through this. Councillors requested for the business case to be made available to them.

·         Reported that the statutory duties and due diligence had been done when reviewing the terms of the loan and business case. There was sufficient protections in place due to the loan being secured against a building.

·         The development would be the responsibility of the New Council, the successor council would take on any liabilities. There was no insurance premium to safeguard the loan although the risk management was set out in the report.

·         The funding would be phased in and there was confidence in the loan being returned, although it was recognised that this was not risk free.