A meeting of Inverness City Committee will take place in the Council Chamber, Town House, Inverness on Monday, 28 April 2008 at 10.00am.

 

It is proposed that a short presentation in relation to item number 7 will take place at 11.30am.

 

A note of the business to be transacted at the meeting is appended.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

David Haas

Inverness City Manager

(for the Chief Executive)

Declarations of Interest – Members are asked to consider whether they have an interest to declare in relation to any item on the agenda for this meeting. Any Member making a declaration of interest should indicate whether it is a financial or non-financial interest and include some information on the nature of the interest. Advice may be sought from Officers prior to the meeting taking place.    

 

1.           Apologies for Absence

 

2.         Minutes

 

City Committee

There are circulated minutes of the City Committee held on Monday 17 March 2008 for information only.

 

Kirking of the Council Working Group

 

There are circulated the minutes of the Kirking of the Council Working Group held on 27 March 2008 for approval. KWG Minute

 

 

3.           Inverness Beechwood Campus  - Update on Progress                                          

 

There is circulated Report No. ICC-29-08 dated 14 April 2008 by the Director of Planning and Development informing Members that the Administration Programme sets out under “A Skilled and Confident Highlands”, the following commitment: “We will work with the UHI Millennium Institute and Highlands & Islands Enterprise (HIE) to complete the University of the Highlands and Islands Project and secure the development of a high quality campus.”

 

HIE are leading a project to bring forward a campus site to the east of Inverness at Beechwood.  As well as being a site for the relocation of Inverness College, the site also offers opportunities for other uses including Research & Development spin-off activities, student accommodation and sports facilities.  The Council has been involved in the project team guiding this project, and the purpose of this report is to ensure Members are aware of current progress and key Council inputs.

 

The Committee is asked to:

 

i.             Support the progress on the delivery of the Beechwood Campus site;  and

ii.           Agree that regular updates on progress are referred to the Committee as appropriate.

 

4.           Inverness City Centre Streetscape and Transportation Project                           

 

There is circulated Report No ICC-30-08 dated 21 April 2008 by the Director of Transport, Environmental and Community Services updating Members on progress and issues associated with the Inverness City Centre Streetscape and Transportation project.

 

The Committee is asked to support progress with the Project.

 

5.           Stakeholder Engagement on the City Centre Streetscape & Traffic Management Programme

 

There is circulated Report No.  ICC-31-08 dated 18 April 2008 by the City Partnership Officer providing an update to Members on the current status of the actions being undertaken in relation to the Traffic Management element of the works currently underway in the City Centre.  It further reports on discussions with the Assessor and Highland Council Finance Service regarding the conditions required for the consideration of business rates relief.

 

The Committee is asked to support the content of the report.

 

6.           Business Improvement District (BID) – Proposals for the City of Inverness

 

There is circulated joint Report No. ICC-32-08 dated  by the Inverness City Manager, the BID Coordinator and the BID Business Liaison Manager detailing the ballot results, the proposed management structure and budget, which will progress the Business Improvement District (BID) business plan.  A system of regular reporting to the City Committee is planned.

 

The Committee is invited to support the progress of the BID proposal and note that further reports will be provided to Members giving details on progress at the next appropriate City Committee meeting.

 

7.           Presentation: Town House Virtual Tour and Am Baile Website        

        (to take place at 11.30am)

 

Jamie Kaukroger, Am Baile Content Co-ordinator, and Maggie Johnstone, Administrative Assistant from the Library Support Unit, and will give a short presentation on the Inverness Town House virtual tour and the Am Baile website.

 

8.           Request to Support Polish Consulate in Inverness City                                                        

 

There is circulated Report No. ICC-33-08 dated 17 April 2008 by the Inverness City Manager informing Members that because of the number of Polish nationals living in Inverness, there is pressure within the community for the Polish Government to recognise this by setting up a consulate within the City.   A request was made to the Provost for formal support from the Council for this.

 

The Committee is invited to decide whether or not to support this request in principle, noting that the final decision will be taken by full Council.

 

9.           CCTV:  Arrangements for City Centre                                                                                         

 

There is circulated joint Report No.ICC-34-08 dated 17 April 2008 by the Inverness City Manager and the Safeinverness Coordinator detailing the extent of the CCTV system in Inverness, its effectiveness and plans for bringing forward an improvement plan.

 

The Committee is asked to comment on the current operation of CCTV in the City and to instruct Officers to

 

i.             Undertake a comprehensive review of the Inverness City system as part of the review of Highland CCTV and report back with a strategic improvement plan; and

ii.           Bring a further report on the technical options and costs for the installation already approved for Ness Islands.

 

10.      Inverness Common Good Fund Monitoring                                                                  

 

There is circulated Report No.  ICC-35-08 dated 16 April 2008 by the Inverness City Manager inviting the Committee to note the revenue monitoring position for the period to 29 February 2008 and actual expenditure to date.

 

The Committee is asked to resolve in terms of Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 that public be excluded from the meeting for Item 11 (only if it wishes to consider items contained on pages 55 - 60) on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 4, 6 and 9 of Part 1 of Schedule 7A of the Act.

 

11.      Common Good Funding Requests                                                                               

 

There is circulated Report No. ICC-36-08 dated 21 April 2008 by the Inverness City Manager inviting the Committee to consider a request for funding from the Inverness Common Good Fund from the 2008/09 budget.  There is also circulated, to Members only, a copy of supporting documentation.