Agenda item

(A report by James Gilbert, Assistant Director – Corporate)

The Group Manager – Insights & Transformation presented the report including the draft consultation document for the Boston Plan 2040. She explained that it included a shared vision for the entire borough, all 19 parishes and the town. It also linked to the LGA Peer Review updates which had been discussed earlier.

The Group Manager – Insights and Transformation confirmed that the Plan expanded on the town centre strategy to cover the whole borough. The Plan had been out for public consultation, in January and February, which included with residents, local businesses, schools and Parish Councils. There had also been public interaction at events, including Celebrate Boston and Boston Brilliance. Members were invited to consider the draft plan and feedback their views so that they could be added to the consultation, which would then be reported to Cabinet on 26^th March 2025.

High-level priorities included a thriving economy, community cohesion and resilience, and a healthy and sustainable borough. If the plan was approved, an action plan would be put together at the next stage, which would include the response to the consultation and the Committee’s views which would feed into the action plan that would be delivered by multi-agency working groups for each of the priorities. The Committee would also receive reports on progress, as would the Cabinet, and reports would be provided to the Parish Council liaison meeting to ensure their involvement.

The Group Manager – Insights and Transformation indicated that there were two key areas that had already been identified from the consultation, which would be included in the next draft submitted to Cabinet. The first area was around the potential impact of local government reorganisation. The report will indicate that it was a “living document.” The second area was regarding conversations with individual councillors about the potential for a rural strategy. She confirmed that rather than proceed in that way and have a separate one, the aim was to pull that together into the Plan, so that all areas were covered.

The Group Manager – Insights and Transformation advised that requests from by the Committee in respect of the Healthy Living Board report would be included in the Boston Plan 2040 so that it could incorporate the links with health and in particular reaching out to communities. Confirmation was provided that there would be more in-depth consultation and engagement on those actions themselves to include the Committee’s suggestions.

Members discussed the reports and commented as follows:

Consideration was given to information in the report about the potential disparity between lower rates of unemployment locally as against the national average and the higher number of people on out of work benefits. The Committee discussed how a probable explanation was that the disparity may have arisen as a result of the number of people who were economically inactive and not claiming out of work benefits. Another explanation may also have been that some claimants of Universal Credit were in work and on low wages. The Group Manager – Insights & Transformation agreed to provide clarification.

Strategic aim 1.5 within the report was considered in terms of whether “attracting inward investment” could be more clearly expressed with positive examples of how it was working. The Group Manager – Insights and Transformation confirmed that additional information would be added, with examples. Deliberation included the need for strong promotion of all that Boston Borough had to offer in terms of growth and investment and the need for businesses to be approached to see what their expansion programmes might be and whether businesses could be encouraged to locate in the area. The benefits of having a more pro-active approach from the Council on this issue was considered as well as more “user-friendly” Council services.

The attractiveness of the Borough’s green spaces as a reason to locate in the area was considered.

Strategic aim 1.4 within the report was considered, including the role of the Local Plan as one of the key drivers for housing and economic growth within the borough. Particular consideration was given to the need for infrastructure to support housing growth and whether there could be a more detailed explanation of the types and extent of infrastructure. The Group Manager – Insights and Transformation confirmed that the references to infrastructure could refer to any kind of infrastructure, depending on the development, and might include roads, shops and broadband. She advised that more details about the types of infrastructure would be added into the Action Plan.

Deliberation occurred on the timescale for delivery of the Plan and whether many of the ambitions in the plan were longer term and whether many of the objectives were achievable in the nearer term. The role of local government reorganisation was also considered and the need to ensure that the work done on the Plan could be carried forward and implemented whatever the outcome of any reorganisation. The Group Manager – Insights and Transformation advised that the Plan was a “living document” which would develop over time. The reference to 2040 was to give a longer vision to be able to look ahead, including on net zero plans and not only what was in the near term. She confirmed that the action plan was very detailed, with specific actions in the forthcoming year to be included in the annual delivery plan each year. She added that there would be very clear deliverables with dates, review dates which would be reported back to Committee.

Consideration was given to the potential benefits to the Borough of Boston from the 400^th anniversary of Boston, Lincolnshire giving birth to Boston, Massachusetts and the need for a stronger priority for this issue in future plans.

The Chairman thanked the Group Manager – Insights and Transformation for the clarity of the report, and those who had prepared and presented the earlier reports.