Issue - decisions

Matter for Decision

The Council uses S106 contributions paid by developers to mitigate the impact of development in Cambridge. As part of its 2021 generic S106 funding round, the Council has invited grant applications from community groups working with professional artists for small-scale (say, up to £20,000) public art projects in Cambridge. This has focused on those parts of the city where off-site public art generic S106 funding is still available. All eight public art grant applications received have been assessed against the Council’s Public Art S106 selection criteria. Officers recommend six of these proposals for funding (subject to further information to address queries raised on five of them).

A further Public Art report would follow in January 2022, focusing on the Public Art Commissioning Strategy and how the remaining off-site public art generic S106 contributions can be used effectively and on time.

The January 2022 report will also look again at the progress made by two applicants (for proposals D and H) that require further work to meet the public art S106 selection criteria.

Decision of Executive Councillor for Communities

The Executive Councillor agreed to:

      i.          Allocate generic S106 funding to the small-scale public art project identified in the ‘allocate’ column of Table 1 (as detailed the Appendix), subject to business case approval, a public art agreement and project completion or significant progress within 18 months.

     ii.          Delegate authority to the Director of Neighbourhoods and Communities to allocate generic S106 funding to projects to the small-scale public art projects identified in the ‘delegate’ column of Table 1 (as detailed in the Officer’s report Appendix) that make sufficient progress towards meeting the eligibility criteria set out in paragraph 4.1 by the 30^th November 2021.

Table 1: Public art proposals that require further clarification

   iii.          Instruct officers to seek further details from projects (summarised below and detailed in the Appendix) and work with the applicants to further develop their applications and report back to the next Scrutiny Committee with a further recommendation.

a.    D.      Coldham’s Lane Bridge public artwork (Romsey ward);

b.    H.      Romsey Rec Ground public art installation (Romsey ward).

Reason for the Decision

As set out in the Officer’s report.

Any Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

Not applicable.

Scrutiny Considerations

The Committee made no comments in response to the report from the Streets and Open Spaces Development Manager.

The Committee unanimously resolved to endorse the recommendations.

The Executive Councillor approved the recommendations.

Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Executive Councillor (and any Dispensations Granted)

No conflicts of interest were declared by the Executive Councillor.