Agenda and minutes

The Leader of the Council with responsibilities for PRED welcomed everyone to the meeting.  She extended a warm welcome to the Port Director, Mr Mike Sellers, who was attending PRED for the first time.

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors Dowling and Galloway.

Apologies for lateness were received from Councillor Chowdhury.

Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson was in attendance at the meeting.

There were no declarations of Members' interests.

The purpose of the report is

·         To update on marketing activity undertaken by the Visitor Services team in 2016 to promote Portsmouth

·         To present a refreshed visitor marketing strategy for 2017-20 that aligns with the Culture and City Business Development Plan 2016-19

·         To outline the recommended marketing activity for 2017/18

RECOMMENDED that the Leader of the Council with responsibilities for PRED

(1)  Notes the achievements in marketing Portsmouth over the last 12 months

(2)  Agrees the new visitor marketing strategy 2017-2020 as shown in Appendix 1

(3)  Agrees the planned marketing communications plan for 2017/18 as shown in Appendix 2

(TAKE IN REPORT)

Jane Singh, Visitor Services and Development Manager, introduced the report which was to provide an update on marketing activity undertaken by the Visitor Services team in 2016 to promote Portsmouth and to present a refreshed visitor marketing strategy for 2017 to 2020.  It also outlines the recommended marketing activity for 2017/18.

Mr Mike Sellers said that the port was looking to attract new cruise lines to Portsmouth.  He said that it was important to publicise what was on offer at Portsmouth to encourage as many passengers as possible to spend time in the city rather than going elsewhere.

The Leader with responsibilities for PRED, Councillor Donna Jones, said  that much work had been done in supporting the visitor economy and the report showed how successful Portsmouth was in growing the visitor economy. The re branding of the city is a key strategy and the Visitor Marketing Strategy and Marketing Communications Plan were designed to maintain and increase the Portsmouth offer.

During discussion members agreed that advertising had been very successful in promoting Portsmouth much farther afield and that opportunities to promote the city further would be sought.  These could include developing a visitor App, using taxi drivers as trained ambassadors for the city and using the internet to maximise coverage.  Members congratulated everyone who had been involved in promoting Portsmouth and the Visitor Economy and felt the report and the strategy were both positive and encouraging.

DECISION:

The Leader of the Council with responsibilities for PRED

(1)  Noted the achievements in marketing Portsmouth over the last 12 months

(2)  Agreed the new visitor marketing strategy 2017-2020 as shown in Appendix 1

(3)  Agreed the planned marketing communications plan for 2017/18 as shown in Appendix 2

The purpose of the report is to seek approval for a four week consultation to take place on the Statement of Community Involvement. The outcome of the consultation will be reported back to PRED with recommendations on further amendments. The final document will then be published on the council website to set out the consultation arrangements for the review of the Portsmouth Local Plan.

RECOMMENDED that the Leader with responsibilities for PRED approves the Statement of Community Involvement for public consultation.

(TAKE IN REPORT)

Selina Crocombe, Planning Policy Manager, introduced the report and explained that its purpose was to seek approval for a four week consultation to take place on the Statement of Community Involvement (SCI).

This revised SCI has been written to make the consultation process clearer and to make it more accessible. It is more concise and contains hyperlinks which can be easily updated if any amendments are made to associated documents. This means that the document can be more easily kept up to date The outcome of the consultation will be reported back to PRED with recommendations on further amendments.  . The final document will then be published on the council website to set out the consultation arrangements for the review of the Portsmouth Local Plan.

The Leader with responsibilities for PRED said that this was a consultation on how to consult and it was intended that this would be open from Friday 3 February for 4 weeks.

During discussion the following points were raised:

·         The word "week" should be inserted in 3.4 line 2 of the report.

·         Some concerns were raised about the low number of consultation returns in the past. Following discussion, it was concluded that a suggestion about possibly holding two meetings - one targeted at businesses and another for community groups  could be taken forward during the preparation of the Local Plan rather than the consultation on the SCI.

·         Assurances were given that the consultation would be very wide.  Huge efforts were being made to use all the tools that were available such as Twitter, Facebook and Flagship and this was ongoing.  Perhaps for example  it would also be possible to include on agendas of Neighbourhood Forums a note to signpost people to where information on consultations could be accessed There was a need to ensure that as many people as possible were aware of the consultation and this could be done in numerous ways.  Much is already being done and consultation responses were going up. 

DECISION:

The Leader of the Council with responsibilities for PRED approved the Statement of Community Involvement for public consultation.