Agenda item

This has been added to the agenda under Access to Information Procedure Rule 5.2, which states ‘Where there are special circumstances requiring an item to be added to the agenda after publication, the revised agenda will be open to inspection from the time the item was added to the agenda.’

Once the Scrutiny Committee has heard the full debate on this matter, it will have two options open to it:-

(1)  To support the challenge and refer the decision for further consideration (stating the grounds for justifying that request) – where the matter will be considered again by Executive Councillor Rigby.

(2)  To decide to take no further action – in which case the decision of the Executive Councillor Rigby of 21 May 2020 will stand.

The following Call-in was considered by the Scrutiny Committee:-

Details of decision:   In January 2015 a working group comprising TDBC, SCC, GWR and Network Rail submitted a strategic case to the Local Transport Board of the LEP and successfully secured funding towards the overall cost of the redevelopment of Taunton Station comprising the following elements:   

• Ticket Office moved to south side of the station for improved access and orientation towards the town centre

• Transport interchange created - Improved capacity, efficiency and amenity for users facilitating more journeys

• Provision of a multi-storey car park - Additional parking spaces to facilitate modal switch and forecast increase in rail demand

• An environment for redevelopment of land around the station – efficient use of space, enhanced facilities and economic growth   

The project includes the repaving of the entire station forecourt and adjoining areas. Since the time of going to tender for the work, Somerset West and Taunton's Garden Town Design Guidance has been developed which identifies the forecourt area as a Core area where the Council should aim to achieve high standards in public realm. However, there is a difference of £91,518.06 in the cost of using the standard materials for the paving which were costed out in the original tender and the higher standard York Stone advised in the guidance.     The project is therefore requesting that £91,518.06 of CIL funds are made available to ensure that the highest standards of public realm can be achieved.

Reasons for proposed decision:  

The proposed decision to provide enhanced materials for the station forecourt aligns with the Council’s draft Public Realm - Design Guide for Taunton Garden Town. This funding will ensure higher design standards are met in the identified ‘Core Area’ in the draft design guide, where the station is a key gateway to Taunton. 

The proposed CIL allocation falls within the £500k CIL budget for Taunton town centre regeneration, approved by Full Council as part of the Capital Programme on 21/02/20.

Detailed reasons for challenge: 

We would like to call in the above decision on the grounds that all the relevant facts have not been taken into account and properly assessed.

The original plans included the total area outside the new entrance to the Station. The investment outlined in the PFH Decision shows that this is no longer the case, leaving a section unimproved will detract and be to the detriment of the whole scheme. As far as I am aware there has been no debate of the subject prior to the decision. It would be beneficial for Scrutiny to have the opportunity to review the plans. Furthermore failure to complete the whole scheme will adversely affect the Historic setting of the Great Western Hotel and area.

During consideration of this item the following points were raised:-

·        Council were included to assist the GWR project, planning permission for their scheme was not required. SWT offered CIL funding to use York stone as opposed to composite stone for the station concourse. There was limited scope of control with GWR. The plan was better than the previous version, which needed to be delivered on time and not delayed.

·        Concerns were expressed that the opportunity had been lost to resolve this as part of the GWR loan arrangements.

·        Network rail managed the maintenance.

·        York stone was chosen as due to the material being part of the garden town guidance

·        A Request was made for alternative options to be considered in examining the scope of the enhancements and members supported the use of CIL for enhancements but requested that the enhancements were reconsidered as part of the whole area of enhancements to go further and cover the whole project area.

·        The committee requested that Councillors and officers are consulted with by GWR in advance of the final decision.

Resolved:- that The Scrutiny Committee did not support Call-in.