Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed members to the meeting.  Councillor Bryant was attending on behalf of West Berkshire Council as an observer.  The Clerk advised that only full members and named deputies would be able to vote.

No declarations were made.

Resolved –  That the minutes of the BLTB held on 20^th November 2014 be approved as a correct record.

The BLTB considered a report on the progress of the Thames Valley Berkshire Local Growth Deal, particularly the transport packages in the Strategic Economic Plan, and were asked to approve programme entry status for four new schemes.

A total of £14.73m had been approved for spending in 2015/16 and the detailed profile was set out in Table 3 of the report.  The future funding profile for the five years beyond 2016/17 would not be confirmed after the general election in May.  The Government had granted further freedoms and flexibilities to TVB in managing the Growth Fund programme.  This meant that there was no longer a need to seek approval to switch schemes between financial years as had been discussed at the previous meeting.  BLTB welcomed this positive step in recognising the confidence Government had in the governance arrangements.

The Government had announced a further £10.2m for further support to Thames Valley Berkshire and Growth Deal 2 introduced four new transport schemes worth a total of £7.5m:

• Newbury: Sandleford Park
• Bracknell: Town Centre Regeneration Infrastructure Improvements
• Slough: Langley Station Access Improvements
• Slough: Burnham Station Access Improvements

Members were briefed on the outline of these schemes and discussed a number of specific issues about each scheme before approving them for programme entry.

(Peter Howe and Councillor Richards both joined the meeting)

Detailed updates were provided on the progress made on each of the other schemes previously given programme entry status as set out in Appendix 5 to the report.  In particular, it was noted that since the last meeting WYG had confirmed that the conditions attached to the approval of the following schemes had been met and they therefore had full financial approval:

• 2.01 Newbury: King’s Road Link Road
• 2.02 Bracknell: Warfield Link Road
• 2.03 Newbury: London Road Industrial Estate
• 2.07 Bracknell: Coral Reef Roundabout

Officers were thanked for their updates and the BLTB welcomed the positive progress being made on both the management of the programme and the development of individual schemes.

Resolved –

(a)  That programme entry status be given to the following schemes:

·  2.05 Newbury: Sandleford Park

·  2.19 Bracknell: Town Centre Regeneration Infrastructure Improvements

·  2.21 Slough: Langley Station Access Improvements

·  2.22 Slough: Burnham Station Access Improvements

(b)  That the progress made on the schemes previously given programme entry status, as set out in Appendix 5 to the report, be noted.

The BLTB Forward Plan for the period to July 2016 was considered.  Scheme promoters were reminded of the key deadlines in bringing forward their schemes for financial approval.

Resolved –  That the Forward Plan be noted.

Thursday 16^th July 2015, 4.00pm at The Centre, Farnham Road, Slough

Resolved –  That the next meeting of the BLTB be held on Thursday 16^th July 2015 at 4.00pm at The Centre, Farnham Road, Slough.