Agenda item
Brent Civic Centre - Concept Design Proposals and Authority to Tender Contract for a Design and Build Contractor
Minutes:
The reasons for the call-in were:-
· To increase the number of car parking spaces at the new Civic Centre to the maximum allowance under current and future planning guidelines.
· The economic case for increasing the amount of car parking spaces
· Consideration of the total car parking capacity required at the Civic Centre particularly for community or private events when the stadium and/or arena are in operation.
Councillor Lorber, in response to the reasons for call-in, began by explaining the objectives of the Civic Centre. The Civic Centre would be in accordance with the Council’s objective of providing best service to residents and meeting their needs and that it would provide for the majority of the Council’s services on one site. Overall, the costs would be neutral and the Civic Centre would be ideally located within the Wembley Regeneration area. Members heard that the Civic Centre would be designed to accommodate 2,000 staff and key partners of the Council. There would be flexible use of space, including a substantial office accommodation, a hall and a library.
Addressing the specific reasons for call-in, Councillor Lorber confirmed that the provision for up to 158 parking spaces had been agreed at the Executive. The maximum that could be achieved from the concept design under the Council’s present Unitary Development Plan standards was 174 spaces, however Councillor Lorber stressed that the Council needed to take a lead in the community in addressing environmental targets and in encouraging alternative methods of transport. The proposals afforded the Council the opportunity to make arrangements with other parking providers when necessary, such as on major event days. Overall, Councillor Lorber felt that parking provision would be adequate, adding that event day visitors made more use of public transport than when Wembley Stadium was previously open. However, efforts would be made to increase both public transport provision and use of it in the area as possible.
With the Chair’s approval, Councillor Detre addressed the Select Committee. He stated that overall he supported the Civic Centre proposals which would accommodate approximately 2,000 staff and councillors, 500 to 600 library visitors daily, 63 councillors and host approximately 600 events a year. On event days and major shopping days, he commented that on-street parking was not available and that the Civic Centre’s requirements could not be compared to the Town Hall’s. Councillor Detre felt that in order to attract visitors to the Civic Centre, providing appropriate parking spaces would be necessary and in his view up to 60 additional spaces could be provided. He suggested that a daily charge of £5 would be sufficient to recoup the costs of providing additional spaces and that the car park would be full on most days. Councillor Detre also stated that travelling late at night without a car was problematic which provided another reason why additional parking spaces were necessary.
With the Chair’s approval, Councillor Blackman also addressed the Select Committee. Councillor Blackman stated that considering that the Civic Centre would be in existence for a long time, that it was important that the building design provided flexibility for existing and future uses. He commented that there could a significant increase in the use of carbon neutral electric cars in future and that an extra floor in the basement could be designed so that it could accommodate this future need. With regard to using other parking providers, Councillor Blackman stated that this exposed the risk of the Council being overcharged and that the greater parking capacity the Council had, the less leverage parking providers would have in setting higher parking fees. Furthermore, potential competitors to the Council with regard to hosting events may gain an advantage as they would be able to offer more parking spaces and be a more attractive venue. In addition, the interests of staff and visitors to the Civic Centre needed to be considered. In view of these issues, Councillor Blackman suggested that parking spaces in the basement area should be maximised and that a £5 daily charge would cover the costs of providing this.
During discussion by Members, Councillor Castle enquired whether the costs of providing 32 additional parking spaces would equate to £1.9 million, adding that in view of the high volume of traffic in the area and good public transport links that it would be imprudent to spend additional money on providing more parking spaces. Councillor Mistry commented that the Civic Centre would be used by its partners and be in use 24 hours, and that if it intended to receive revenue through holding late night functions, that Members should bear in mind that public transport would be limited late at night and in the early hours, whilst the safety of those travelling at these times, which could include children, should also be considered. In view of this, she felt that there would be sufficient demand to travel to the Civic Centre by car and so the number of parking spaces should be maximised to what was permitted under planning guidelines, adding that income could be generated by parking fees. Councillor Mistry also commented that corporate organisations tended to hire out schools’ parking spaces when large events took place in Wembley.
Councillor V Brown enquired whether a fee had been decided for use of parking spaces at the Civic Centre. Councillor Powney sought views as to whether the construction of additional parking spaces would have an effect on carbon emissions. With regard to the target to obtain an outstanding design award for the Civic Centre, Councillor Powney asked what the potential cost difference would be if this was not achieved. The Chair enquired whether electricity charging points would be provided at the Civic Centre.
In reply to the issues raised, Councillor Lorber confirmed that an additional 16 parking spaces could be provided under UDP at a cost of £1.9 million, however he did not feel this would be a good use of money, especially as the Council was taking a lead on environmental issues. With regard to late night use of the Civic Centre, Councillor Lorber commented that approximately 2,900 parking spaces were available at Wembley Stadium, about five minutes walking distance from the Civic Centre. He suggested that many visitors to the Civic Centre who travelled by car were likely to be dropped off there and picked up later after the event had finished, thereby not needing use of parking spaces. Councillor Lorber reiterated that the 158 parking spaces on site was adequate, especially in view of other parking facilities available in the area, adding that Quintain were considering building a multi-storey car park close to the Civic Centre with a capacity of between 500 and 1,000 spaces. The Select Committee heard that increasing parking spaces to 174 could be challenged by the Mayor of London which could delay the project and cause additional costs. Councillor Lorber stated that even building an additional floor would still mean significantly less than 60 additional spaces being created. He also advised that an additional temporary 200 parking spaces could be available when the Civic Centre opened to allow staff to make changes to enable them to travel to the Civic Centre by alternative means to the car. The Select Committee noted that parking space fees had not yet been set.
Aktar Choudhury (Assistant Director – Civic Centre Project, Business Transformation) added that constructing more parking spaces were likely to increase carbon emissions and that the objective was to reduce existing carbon emissions by 40%. He advised Members that the Council aspired to an Outstanding British Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) award for the Civic Centre and that increasing parking spaces could impact adversely on the chances of obtaining this. The potential financial loss in not achieving this could not be confirmed at this stage, however Aktar Choudhury advised that the design award also took issues such as use of local resources into account. Electrical charging points would also be provided, however their locations were yet to be determined.
RESOLVED:-
that upon considering the report from the Director of Business Transformation, the decisions made by the Executive be noted.