Issue - meetings

Report of the Cultural Services Team Manager

The Cultural Services Team Manager presented the report to members, highlighting that all events for 2017 had been delivered within or under budget, and the income received for the two key events of Picnic in the Park and Christmas in Coalville had ensured that those events had been delivered well within budget. 

Christmas in Coalville

The Cultural Services Team Manager reported that the Christmas in Coalville event on 2 December had been well attended and partnership working had been positive.  Following the comments made at the previous meeting, the entertainment had been increased to a wider area of the town to include Memorial Square.  She advised that officers had engaged with 134 town centre businesses on the Friday following the event, and 89% of businesses had reported a positive or neutral impact during the event, and although 51% of businesses would prefer the event to be held in December, 72% said they would prefer to avoid a clash with the event in Ashby if possible.  She added that the Ashby event was highly likely to be held on 1 December on 2018 which would cause a clash.  She asked members to consider whether they wished to bring the event forward to 24 November.  She reported that there had been good social media activity during the event and a high number of impressions around Twitter, which was double the average number of tweets clicked on, liked or replied to.  She thanked the Communications Team for their support with this.  She added that comments and suggestions made on social media following the event were also being considered and were generally positive. 

Councillor M B Wyatt stated that having spoken to local traders, they felt it was the worst ever event from a business perspective.  High Street in particular was deserted and local shops reported less footfall and a reduction in takings.  He added that Belvoir Road was equally badly affected and Memorial Square was under-utilised.  He commented that people had said that if they had to choose between attending the Coalville event or the Ashby event, they would choose Ashby as it was a better event, and this was not due to the dates clashing.  He reported that some of the businesses on High Street had not been contacted at all.   He referred to comments made by an officer about the lack of a  Town Council in Coalville.  He stated that he felt there was no co-operation between the businesses and the council, and he had lost all heart in trying to put a positive spin on the event.  He said that the feedback from residents was that the council was failing. 

Councillor D Everitt stated that he was inclined to agree with some of those comments, and added that the music event did not seem to have the same appeal as the previous year.  He commented that the weather on the day was also very cold. 

The Cultural Services Team Manager explained that attendance had increased from the previous year, and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20