Decision details

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for the Economy, copies of which had been circulated to all Members and a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes as Item 12.

The report updated elected members of the progress of Colonnade House and confirmed the progress of a planning application to establish a Creative & Digital Hub in the heart of Worthing town centre.

The report recommended the Joint Strategic Committee to set out and approve the business case to enable the project to be realised, confirming Worthing Borough Council’s strong commitment to supporting and growing the Creative Industries in the town, whilst also providing much needed new housing.

The report sought approval to release capital and revenue budgets to enable the project to proceed through to project delivery.

Members of the Committee expressed their support for the proposals and discussed the possible impact on the annual revenue subsidy in relation to changes to the  level of occupancy and interest rates. Officers advised that an 85% occupancy rate had been assumed and that the interest rate forecast had been prudent.

The recommendations in the report were proposed by Councillor Daniel Humphreys, seconded by Councillor Kevin Jenkins and supported by the Committee.

Decision: 

The Joint Strategic Committee:

1)     approved the business case for Colonnade House to establish an expanded Creative & Digital Hub in Worthing town centre;

2)     recommended that Worthing Borough Council approve the creation of the capital budget of £4.050m referred to in Section 7 of the report;

3)     noted that the revenue consequences of the scheme referred to in section 7 of the report would have to be funded from the revenue budget and accommodated within the Medium Term Financial Plan;

4)     delegated authority to the Director for the Economy to enter into all contracts in relation to the scheme subject to the final costs being within the budget released.

Call In:

The call-in deadline for decisions 1, 3 and 4 will be 5.00pm on 12 April 2021.

There is no call-in for recommendations (2) to Adur and Worthing Councils.