Agenda item - Valley Gardens Phase 3 - Royal Pavilion to seafront: project programme

Report of the Executive Director, Economy, Environment & Culture

1)           That the Committee approves the Phase 3 Core Design Objectives, as set out in Appendix 2 of this report.

2)           That the Committee approves the Three (Phase 3) Project Scenario options, as set out in paragraph 4.3 of this report to be taken forward for further investigation, to include detailed assessment of how effectively options to be developed through the Project Scenarios meet the Core Design Objectives.

3)           That the Committee authorises officers to undertake the development of an Outline Business Case and to report this back to November 2018 ETS Committee.

4)           That the Committee approves the Project Programme, as set out in Appendix 3 of this report.

5)           That the Committee requests officers to fully brief and consult its Lead Councillors as the preliminary design work progresses.

8.1         The Committee considered a report of the Executive Director, Economy, Environment & Culture that set out the Valley Gardens Phase 3 Core Design Objectives and requested approval of the Project Programme and to move to the next stage of the design process.

8.2         Councillor West noted there had been some delay to the project and he welcomed the opportunity to move forward. Councillor West stated that the roundabout represented a challenge to the project, in particular its connectivity to the A259 and A23. Councillor West stated that the area had a high accident rate for cyclists and he hoped strong proposals would be put forward to make the area safer.

8.3         Councillor Miller stated that the area had a lot of unused space and did need rejuvenation however, he was sceptical of some of the design options proposed such as the ‘hybrid’ option and a T junction that may cause more congestion.

8.4         Councillor Wares stated that whilst the initial proposals included exciting designs, he was minded that the area was an important cultural and heritage sight and he hoped the final design could retain that aspect. Councillor Wares asked if the traffic modelling for phase 3 would be based on the current Valley Gardens layout or whether it would be correlated to the traffic modelling for phases 1 and 2 and whether changes could be made to phases 1 and 2 if the traffic modelling for phase 3 highlighted difficulties. Furthermore, Councillor Wares queried how it was intended to link phase 3 into the other initiatives in the city and create behavioural change.

8.5         In response to the questions raised, the Principal Transport Planner replied that reducing the accident rate at the roundabout was a key objective of the design, that modelling for phases 1 and 2 would be reviewed as the scheme progressed and phase 3 modelling would be combined with that with the surveys currently underway creating key reference points. The Assistant Director, City Transport added that modelling from phase 3 would be fed back into the phase 1 and 2 design. Furthermore, the Traffic Network Management plan would assess the impact of other initiatives in the city on Valley Gardens and vice versa and that would be collated in the traffic modelling.

8.6         Referring to paragraph 7.1 of the report, Councillor Wares stated his concern relating to the other possible sources of external funding referred to as this inferred that full funding was not in place. In addition, Councillor Wares noted that no crime and disorder implications had been listed that gave the impression that lessons had not been learned from the redesign of the Level.

8.7         The Assistant Director, City Transport explained that funding for phase 3 was already in place and the wording of the financial implications covered opportunities to seek additional funding opportunities beyond that such as through the Local Enterprise Partnership. In relation to crime and disorder implications, the Principal Transport Planner explained that the issue would be kept under review and informed by the project at the Level and phases 1 and 2 of the Valley Gardens scheme.

8.8         Councillor Littman asked what mitigating measures were being made for motorists, pedestrians and cyclists during the inevitable disruption the construction for phases 1, 2 and 3 would cause.

8.9         The Principal Transport Planner clarified that the finalisation of the procurement was close and as soon as the construction phases were known, there would be a clearer understanding of the mitigating measures that would be required.

8.10      Councillor Miller asked whether any approval from Planning Committee would be required and whether that had been phased into the project timeframe.

8.11      The Principal Transport Planner clarified that as phase 3 mainly focussed on highway changes, it was not currently envisaged that planning consent would be required however, there was capacity with the project timeframe to obtain that if needed.

8.12      RESOLVED-

1)           That the Committee approves the Phase 3 Core Design Objectives, as set out in Appendix 2 of this report.

2)           That the Committee approves the Three (Phase 3) Project Scenario options, as set out in paragraph 4.3 of this report to be taken forward for further investigation, to include detailed assessment of how effectively options to be developed through the Project Scenarios meet the Core Design Objectives.

3)           That the Committee authorises officers to undertake the development of an Outline Business Case and to report this back to November 2018 ETS Committee.

4)           That the Committee approves the Project Programme, as set out in Appendix 3 of this report.

5)           That the Committee requests officers to fully brief and consult its Lead Councillors as the preliminary design work progresses.