Agenda item

(Director of Neighbourhoods) To consider the attached report AMED-015-2015/16.

The Local Strategic Partnership Manager presented a report to the Cabinet Committee and updated them on a number of projects and issues being explored by the Economic Development Team.

(1)        Visitor Economy – The Visit Epping Forest 2016 Tourism Conference was taking place on the 4 March 2016 at Marriott Hotel, Waltham Abbey. Key speakers had been booked including Michael Veasey of Eastern Plateau/ BEST Growth Hub, Del Goddard of Vibrant Partnerships and George Kieffer of Visit Essex. After a soft launch within the winter tourism e-newsletter there are already over 40 delegates booked in and a dedicated campaign will promote the event throughout January and February.

Two new display banners have been produced for the use of tourism members at events. They were used at the Visit Epping Forest stand at the 2016 Excursions trade show at the Alexandra Palace.

Work had started on a new website following recommendations for an upgraded site as a key outcome from tourism workshops in 2015.The new site will work across all devices and contain information on different areas of the district as well as the key visitor attractions and an improved “What’s On” page. Accessibility for easy updating and editorial control will be included via a new Content Management System (CMS).

An updated general area leaflet was being produced which would contain information about the different areas of the district. Display units for the leaflets were also being ordered to be sited in a wider range of local outlets.

(2)        Town Centres – The Economic Development Officers were working with the Waltham Abbey Town Partnership They had been successful in acquiring funding from Essex County Council’s Community Initiatives Fund to commission consultancy support to design a wayfinding project for Waltham Abbey’s town centre.

There were five applications, varying in scale and nature, either under consideration or approved within EFDC’s Town & Village Centres Opportunities Fund. There was a further bid that was currently being prepared for submission to the Fund and this would be encouraging partners to consider further bids at the District Town Centres Team meeting.

(3)        Business Support – The Economic Development Team (EDT) were working with BEST Growth Hub to promote and encourage take-up of its services by our local business community.

The team were promoting a suite of free workshops for start-up and established businesses across Essex from January to March and have had confirmation that four of these sessions will be held at Epping Rugby Club and Epping Forest College. BEST will also have a presence at the Tourism Conference and the EDT are exploring opportunities for some different format events i.e. drop-in surgery session for businesses or a Pop-up Business Café.

The next edition of One Business Briefing is currently being compiled and would be distributed to business contacts and partners during February.

(4)        Superfast Essex / Rural Challenge Project – The build phase of the Superfast Essex Rural Challenge Project continued to make progress in the Bobbingworth and Moreton areas of the district. A second fibre cabinet has been built just outside Fyfield and works to connect up this cabinet to the wider network have also begun. The first customer of the Gigaclear ultrafast network was connected and went live just before Christmas, with the event being marked by a visit to Bobbingworth by Ed Vaizey, MP, Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy. The next cabinet planned for the network will be located in the Norton Heath area.

Superfast Essex will be running a series of digital workshops to encourage more business take-up. One of the workshops would be about ‘How to stay ahead of competitors online’ and will be hosted in Ongar on 3 March 2016 at the Essex Technology & Innovation Centre. It was planned to promote these workshops and a digital toolkit, also developed by Superfast Essex, in the next edition of One Business Briefing.

(5)        Partner Liaison – The EDT continued to liaise with, support and attend meetings with a number of Partner Organisations. These included, at varying intervals:

- Essex County Council

- South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SE LEP)

- Invest Essex and Essex Innovation Programme

- Lea Valley Food Taskforce

- Essex Economic Development Officer group

- Essex Tourism Officer Group

- Epping Forest District Town Team

- Eastern Plateau Local Action Group

- Stansted Airport Local Authority Forum

- Tourism & Visitor Board

- West Essex Skills & Learning Forum

- Waltham Abbey Town Partnership

- One Epping Forest

The EDT was represented at a new grouping in January termed the West Essex Economic & Investment Officer Forum. This new group has been well received by partners and had been established to help communication foster a stronger common understanding of the issues and projects across West Essex and to ensure that West Essex had a joined-up voice (when inputting into LSCC, SE LEP etc.). The meeting was attended by Officers from Epping Forest District, Harlow, Uttlesford and Essex County Council (Economic Regeneration, Inward Investment and Highways).

The Team had also been represented at the Essex Economic Development Officers Group in January 2016. As well as being a valuable forum at which we gleaned great information on business funding and support, activity at Essex County Council etc., it was an introduction to the operation of the Hive Enterprise Centre in Southend.

Resolved:

To note the progress and work programme of the Council’s Economic Development Section.

Reasons for Decision:

To appraise the Committee on progress made with regard to Economic Development issues.

Other Options Considered and Rejected:

None, as this monitoring report was for information not action.