Part 1 REPORT OF THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF HOUSING AND PLANNING TO THE LEAD MEMBER FOR PLANNING FOR BRIEFING ON 19th February, 2008 FOR DECISION ON 4th March, 2008 TITLE: A strategy for sponsorship and advertising RECOMMENDATIONS: That Lead Member for Planning approves: 1. That Urban Vision carries out a survey of all the main arterial roads within Salford and provides a schedule of all hoardings to determine exactly what advertising is in place. 2. That Urban Vision improves the use of the existing hoarding sites across the City and appoints a consultant at its own expense to carry out the survey and to assist in achieving the best rental income for Salford. 3. That Urban Vision works closely with the URC and Salford City Council to explore the potential for developing a high quality and design lead approach to advertising across the City including an integrated approach to branding, gateways and landmark advertising. 4. That a 50/50 profit share arrangement is agreed between Salford City Council and Urban Vision for any additional income generated above the existing budget plans to recognise the work that Urban Vision will be undertaking on Salford’s behalf. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: An opportunity has arisen to improve the street scene for Salford City Council and improve the income levels generated through large format advertising. It is recognised that it may be difficult to release additional management fee for this work but it is recommended that a risk and reward model should be adopted. The way forward is to agree a profit share between Salford City Council and Urban Vision for any additional income generated above the existing budget plans to recognise the work that Urban Vision will be undertaking on Salford’s behalf. The suggested approach would be to split any additional income generated, above the agreed plans, on a 50/50 basis. 1 The first step will be to carry out a survey of all the main arterial roads within Salford and provide a schedule of all hoardings to determine exactly what advertising is in place; this will include sites owned by Salford and sites in private ownership. Urban Vision have been commissioned by the Urban Regeneration Company (URC) in connection with the strategic transport and public realm delivery programme. One of the key projects in this programme will involve exploring the potential for the development of the area focussed around the M602/Regent Road roundabout as a main gateway to the city, with potential to link into high quality advertising. Urban Vision have also produced studies on behalf of Salford City Council in connection with enhancing the linear highway corridors and gateways to the west of the city. It is therefore important that an integrated and design lead approach is taken in exploring the potential for advertising across the city as a whole. BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS: None. ASSESSMENT OF RISK: Low There is no risk to Salford City Council, the work will be undertaken on a risk and reward basis by Urban Vision Partnership Ltd. SOURCE OF FUNDING: Urban Vision Partnership Ltd will undertake this work on a risk and reward basis. LEGAL IMPLICATIONS: None Richard Lester x 2129 Comments: There are no legal implications as a result of this report. The consultant will be appointed via a Letter of Commission drafted by Urban Vision. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: None Contact Officer and Extension No: Nigel Dickens X2585 Comments: Urban Vision will be undertaking this work on a risk and reward basis at no cost to Salford City Council. By recommending this proposal, Salford will have the potential to achieve greater rental income for its existing hoarding sites and income through the development of a landmark site. 2 COMMUNICATION IMPLICATIONS: Communication has taken place with the URC to ensure that this proposal compliments their strategy for central Salford. In the process of developing this proposal both the Property team and Development Control team within Urban Vision have been consulted. A report was taken to the monthly monitoring meeting on the 18th January, 2008, and this approach has been endorsed by Salford City Council. VALUE FOR MONEY IMPLICATIONS: The proposed works will enhance the local environment by identifying illegal large format advertising across the city and by generating additional income for Salford City Council. No additional management fee will be charged for this work. CLIENT IMPLICATIONS: There are no client implications. PROPERTY: Tenure of the existing large hoarding sites will be improved to ensure that Salford have a greater control of the sites in the future. HUMAN RESOURCES: There are no human resource implications associated with this report. Existing staff within the Business Strategy and Development business unit at Urban Vision will manage the project. CONTACT OFFICERS: Jonathan Till 0161 779 6133 Urban Vision Business Strategy and development. E-mail jonathan.till@urbanvision.org.uk Rob Pickering 0161 793 2818 Housing & Planning Head of Partnership and Business Support E-mail Rob.pickering@salford.gov.uk WARD(S) TO WHICH REPORT RELATE(S): This advertising strategy is a citywide initiative. 3 KEY COUNCIL POLICIES: None DETAILS: Background An opportunity has arisen to improve the street scene for Salford City Council and improve the income levels generated through large format advertising. It is recognised that it may be difficult to release additional management fee for this additional work but it is suggested that a risk and reward model should be adopted. The way forward is to agree a profit share between Salford City Council and Urban Vision for any additional income generated above the existing budget plans to recognise the work that Urban Vision will be undertaking on Salford’s behalf. The suggested approach would be to split any additional income generated, above the agreed plans, on a 50/50 basis. There are two main areas of advertising income that Urban Vision have responsibility for, but it needs to be recognised that these defined areas need to be ring fenced as there are different challenges facing us for each area of work. Large format advertising Sponsorship on the highway - target for 2008/9 - target for 2008/9 £40,000 £375,000 Large format advertising The proposal will be to look at large format advertising and advertising in general across the city. By large format advertising we mean the large 48 and 96 sheet hoardings that are managed by Urban Vision. The first step will be to carry out a survey of all the main arterial roads within Salford and provide a schedule of all hoardings (with photographs) to determine exactly what advertising is in place, this will include sites owned by Salford and sites in private ownership. This survey will be carried out by consultants at Urban Vision’s expense. The survey will identify the extent of advertising within Salford and Urban Vision will establish whether the sites have the correct planning consents in place. Once the position is known Salford City Council can then make an informed decision concerning enforcement action against any illegal sites. This process will contribute towards street scene by identifying illegal advertising across the city and replacing, where appropriate, with fewer sites, with better designs that enhance the environment. 4 The work Urban Vision needs to undertake is to gain control of the Salford sites by seeking to move advertisers from a tenancy agreement to a licence arrangement. In this way we can re-negotiate with the advertisers and realise the true market value for the sites that the council own. We will need to commission a consultant to advise us on the true market value of our sites and to assist in re-negotiating the tenancy agreements. We will work with the consultants to identify new sites and new opportunities across the city. Urban Vision staff will need to work with the consultants to improve the way we manage the sites on behalf of Salford but no additional management fee will be claimed for this work. Any additional income generated, above the agreed revenue plan, would be split 50/50 to recognise the work undertaken by Urban Vision. This work would be undertaken on a risk and reward basis. Sponsorship on the highway To meet future sponsorship targets we need to develop new forms of income streams and the way forward is to develop a landmark site within Salford. The development of a landmark site, which is currently outside the scope of the existing management fee, will involve a great deal of staff time and the appointment of consultants to drive the project forward. The suggestion is for Urban Vision to bear this cost on a risk and reward basis and split the income, above the existing threshold, on a 50/50 basis to recognise the work undertaken by Urban Vision. The development of high quality gateways/landmark site(s) will be explored further with the URC and Salford City Council across the whole city. Landmark site Urban Vision have been commissioned by the Urban Regeneration Company (URC) in connection with the strategic transport and public realm delivery programme. One of the key projects in this programme will involve exploring the potential for the development of the area focussed around the M602/Regent Road roundabout as a main gateway to the city, with potential to link into high quality advertising. Urban Vision have also produced studies on behalf of Salford City Council in connection with enhancing the linear highway corridors and gateways to the west of the city. It is therefore important that an integrated and design lead approach is taken in exploring the potential for advertising across the city as a whole. 5 This project will provide a good opportunity to think strategically across the city and incorporate good design into our large format advertising sites. Urban Vision have been given the challenge of generating substantial amounts of income through sponsorship/advertising by Salford and the way forward is to develop this landmark site. Conclusion That Urban Vision appoints a consultant, at its own expense, to carry out a survey of all the main arterial roads within Salford and provide a schedule of all hoardings (with photographs) to determine exactly what advertising is in place across the City and advise Salford City Council of any illegal advertising. That Urban Vision improve the usage of existing large format sites and appoint a consultant to re negotiate existing leases and obtain the best rental income for Salford. That Urban Vision identifies further opportunities for large format advertising across the City to increase the rental income for Salford. That Urban Vision works further with the URC and Salford City Council in exploring the potential for the development of high quality gateways/landmark sites across the whole city. That Salford City Council agrees to split any additional income generated, above the agreed plans, on a 50/50 basis. That it is recognised that the two areas of work, advertising on the highway and large format advertising are kept separate and that income generated in each area is ring fenced. Bob Osborne Deputy Director of Housing and Planning 6