Agenda item

Significant capital funding has recently been made available to Fenland District Council via the following schemes:

·           Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) Market Towns Initiative (which has been given the working title of Growing Fenland)

·           Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC) £5m Capital Communities Fund

This report gives an update on the progress of funding bids submitted to both schemes including any resulting capital or revenue implications for the Council should the bids be successful.

Members considered the Project Update report concerning the Growing Fenland and Cambridgeshire County Council Capital Community Fund  (CCC CCF) presented by Councillor Boden.

·         Councillor Mrs French said that as a member of Cambridgeshire County Council Communities Partnership and as a Champion of Fenland she is delighted that Fenland were successful in so many of the submitted bids. She added that March and Wisbech were fortunate and received a significant amount of funding, but Whittlesey and Chatteris did not appear to have featured in this round of funding. 

·         Councillor Mrs French added that she did enquire with the County Council as to whether Fenland would receive any additional funding, but this information will not be determined until budgets are set. She congratulated everybody and wished them well with their projects going forward.

·         Councillor Mrs Laws said there is a short amount of time that the market towns have to submit their bid for funding. She added it is onerous task to have to submit information in such short timescales, but from a Whittlesey perspective it is anticipated that a bid will be submitted in September and October. Councillor Mrs Laws confirmed that she is referring to the CPCA applications

·         Councillor Hoy stated that she has been disappointed with the CPCA and agrees with Councillor Mrs Laws regarding the turnaround being a very short timeframe for submissions. She added that match funding is very difficult because everybody is short of money and some of the schemes in Wisbech have been put in place as the Town Council have funded projects through the County Council fund. She stated that whilst she appreciates the £1,000,000 that has been awarded, it is a difficult sum to work with but is sure it will be utilised with various projects and stated that, looking forward, if the opportunity arises again to bid for further funding, then she would hope that the scheme would be administered differently.

·         Councillor Mrs Laws stated that one project is for a Heritage Centre in Whittlesey and that due to the complex nature of engaging architects and specialists to work on the project this all takes time and therefore an application will be submitted with a caveat to state that further information will be provided as and when it becomes available. 

CCC Capital Communities Fund:

Cabinet AGREED to:

·           Note the projects that have been approved or submitted to the CCC CCF at Appendix F of the report.

·           To approve £7,500 from the play equipment maintenance budget as match funding for West End Park Enhancements as set out in Appendix F of the report

·           If successful at the next Committee stage, to approve £10,000 from the Capital Programme split over 21/22 and 22/23 as match funding for the Wisbech Park conversion of Changing Rooms project as set out in Appendix F of the report.

·           Note the potential future revenue and capital implications for both projects with a further report to brought back to Cabinet on the Wisbech Park Changing Rooms project when further detailed costing and feasibility has been completed.

Growing Fenland:

·           Note the projects being submitted to the CPCA Board meeting on 30th September set out in Appendix D of the report.

·           Note the contribution from the Leaders Fund for £500 for interactive flooding signs.