To receive the above report.

Paul Roach, Windsor & Eton Town Manager presented the forum with a written report, which provided the forum with a town manager update.

(Councillor Davey joined the meeting)

Paul Roach said that businesses were predominantly doing fairly well, however it was appearing that footfall was beginning to be affected by the current high inflation rate and the cost-of-living crisis. Car parking figures appeared to begin the 1^st financial quarter quite well, however this was beginning to decrease on the 2019 figures. Coach parking was around 80-90% down on previous years, which was expected to stay at this level in the near future.

Paul Roach said that significant increases in footfall were seen during May 2022, however this was beginning to decrease slightly. However, it had generally been positive during the last financial quarter. The busiest day of June 2022 was Thursday 2 June 2022, which saw 41,422 visitors come to the town, with the peak hour of the month being 12pm on this day with a footfall of 4,448 people. Over 600,000 movements had been registered over the bank holiday weekend. This had been the busiest in 4 years since the royal wedding in 2018.

Paul Roach said in terms of vacancy rates, Windsor was still below the national average. He then outlined the venues that had vacated the town, but also the stores that had recently opened and were planning to open soon. The vacancy rates of Clewer, Dedworth and Ascot had remained reasonably stable in comparison.

Paul Roach said in relation to Windsor Yards and the consultations that had occurred, there was still a website that existed for comments that would be taken into account. This website could be accessed at the following, windsor-yard-boards.pdf (windsorconsultation.co.uk) Over 300 comments had been received and it had been quite a positive response. He added that Windsor Yards were aiming to carry out the works, whilst still having a fully operational shopping centre.

Paul Roach then shared some images with the forum members which showed attendance levels at events over the Jubilee weekend. He commented that the ‘Rock the Rec’ event had also been very successful and very popular. These events included the Ox Roast, the Beacon Lighting, the Picnic in the Park, the 115^th Royal Windsor Flower Show and the Gloriana.

Paul Roach said that there were 25 plus street parties that had been registered with the borough within Windsor. He thanked all volunteers who helped deliver on these events. Reported sales over the week of the Jubilee celebrations increased by between 50 and 200%. The media reach was upwards of 64 million people, and this would continue to rise throughout the rest of 2022. There was £1.44 million worth of media coverage.

Before any questions were asked of Paul, the Chairman declared an interest, being that she was a director at the Community Interest Company (CIC) who helped deliver the events at the long walk over the bank holiday weekend. She thanked Paul Roach and Julia White for all of their hard work.

Councillor Tisi noted that the footfall level was not decreasing as much as the car parking figures had. She questioned why this would potentially be the case and if walking and cycling levels were monitored.

Paul Roach said that this was not currently monitored, however a recent meeting had discussed this possibility. Additionally, he said that a lot of people who attended the Jubilee events did not use the car parks, and instead parked their cars anywhere they could, such as on pavements. He admitted that people were potentially looking at the different ways they travelled into Windsor.

Councillor Price said that she was pleased to see the successes of the celebrations, but she raised some concern as to the risk assessments that had been carried out on some of the events. She had attended the Beacon Lighting from Albert Road and decided to stay well back from the crowds due to the sheer volume of people. She implored the borough to use this as experience for any future events and that the forum also covered businesses within the suburbs of Windsor, who she wished for encouragement for people to attend the opened businesses who were finding things difficult. She also raised concern over the closure of banks. Residents could still use the Post Office, as well as other existing banks for some banking needs.

Paul Roach admitted that both the Council and the Police were not expecting the amount of people that turned up for the Beacon Lighting. The BBC had also reported that the Queen would be lighting the beacon and that she was in Windsor. This was factually correct, but she was to light the beacon in London and not Windsor. This attracted many people to the event.

Jeff Pick wished to echo Councillor Price’s concern over the closure of banks due to vulnerable people potentially withdrawing excess cash to see them through. This put them at greater risk, both in public and at home.

Paul Roach wanted to make it clear that not all banks had closed, and that ATM’s and banks did still exist in the town centre. He then listed out these options that were available.

Councillor Davies asked in term so vacancies if the borough were losing out financially on rent as well as business rates.

Paul Roach said that to his knowledge, all of the premises that the brough owned were currently being let. The Chairman also confirmed this.

Councillor Davey asked for the Chairman and Paul Roach if they could potentially speak with the Windsor Yards and ask if they could run any sessions in the Dedworth area, as 300 respondents to the consultation was great, but this was only a small percentage of Windsor residents. Information was left off the website, until after the consultation events, to encourage attendees to go to them.

Councillor Bowden said that comments regarding Windsor Yards should be restricted slightly, due to the matter soon to be coming to the planning department. He also added a few businesses that would be opening in Windsor too. These included Ollie and Steen and a new food unit on Peascod Street. 2 new units on Peascod street had been acquired too, in order to facilitate the new developments.

Councillor Bowden then went on to thank all of the residents of Park Street and said that they were virtually invaded by visitors to the Beacon Lighting. In terms of parking, he said that all car parks were full, and it was lucky that no parking enforcement was in operation over the Jubilee weekend.

Councillor Muir asked about affordable housing, but the Chairman asked for this to be sorted between them offline due to this not being on the agenda.

Ed Wilson said that the borough operated 100% relief for empty shops for the first 3 months, and that then 100% business rates were charged from then on. He asked about the Hello Lamppost scheme and what was happening with it. He also asked who was responsible for promoting the resident discount parking scheme. His final question was asking whether it was possible to get any success stories on newly opened sites in Windsor onto the resident newsletter.

Steph James, Service Lead for Economic Growth, said that the Hello Lamppost scheme was an experiment to aid the borough in reopening after the pandemic. This was funded through the Welcome Back European Social Funding money. She confirmed that this scheme would not be continued. The resident discount parking scheme was promoted via the usual comms links. My Royal Borough was being utilised greatly, and businesses were being encouraged to engage and reach out to them.