Agenda item

The Committee will receive an update on culture, sport and leisure

Contributors:

Mr Gareth Williams, Cabinet Member for Communities and Public Health

Mr Patrick Hogan, Cabinet Member for Culture

Mr Clive Harriss, Cabinet Member for Sports and Leisure

Richard Barker, Corporate Director Communities

Sophie Payne, Service Director Culture, Sports and Leisure 

The Chairman welcomed Clive Harriss, Cabinet Member for Sports and Leisure, Gareth Williams, Cabinet Member for Communities and Public Health and Sophie Payne, Service Director, Culture, Sports and Leisure. Patrick Hogan, Cabinet Member for Culture sent his apologies.

During the presentation, the following key points were made:

·       The four country parks located in Denham, Langley, Black Park and Thorney had in previous years been visited by over one million people every year and continued to be very popular. There had been record-breaking numbers of visitors to the parks as people sought quality green spaces during the pandemic, however this increased demand had brought additional costs for waste collection and disposal, enhanced cleaning and other safety measures related to Covid. Parking on surrounding roads had also caused issues which needed to be addressed to allow traffic to flow more freely. This had been a national trend that was not unique to Buckinghamshire.

·       One of the achievements for the year had been the award of six Green Flags for parks in Buckinghamshire.

·       The libraries in Buckinghamshire were a mix of council and community libraries and had adapted their services in response to the pandemic. Their online services and resources had expanded which had seen a 50% increase in people using the service, and contactless request and collect and home library services were introduced. The libraries were becoming a further way for residents to access the council’s services, and membership of the libraries had increased by over 3,500.

·       The service had recently won the Proud of Bucks staff award for ‘Innovation and Creativity’.

·       Whilst closed during lockdown, staff at the libraries had been actively supporting the community hubs throughout Covid and had made over 2,500 telephone calls to speak to residents shielding, organized food parcels and delivered PPE around Buckinghamshire. Other activities had included supporting the vaccination programme, contact tracing, and business support grants. The Council was investing in its libraries, as seen with the refurbishment of Marlow Library.

·       Buckinghamshire Archives had developed a remote service offering during the lockdown while their public access areas were closed. Part of this had included Buckinghamshire’s first Virtual History Festival which generated 15,538 views from 4,862 unique users.

·       Buckinghamshire Archives had renewed its National Archives accreditation to 2022.

·       As well as this, the Culture service was focusing on work with Buckinghamshire Culture in developing and launching its local Cultural Sector Recovery Programme with support from the Rothschild Foundation. Several organisations in Buckinghamshire had also received support through Government’s Cultural Recovery Fund which included Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre, Queens Park Arts Centre, Wycombe Arts Centre, Elgiva Theatre, Swan Theatre, Chiltern Open Air Museum and Wycombe Museum.

The key service priorities for 2021/22 were also outlined which included:-

·       the Covid recovery plan

·       the countywide Leisure Facilities Strategy

·       completion of the Chiltern Lifestyle Centre, Amersham

·       progressing the wider Capital Programme for leisure, parks and play areas

·       Service Improvement Review and development of the future strategies for libraries and Buckinghamshire Archives

Members of the Committee had follow up questions and were advised that:-

·       The Chiltern Lifestyle Centre, Amersham, was scheduled for completion on 13 September 2021. Members agreed that this had the potential to be a flagship centre in Buckinghamshire. 

·       Income from the Country Park car parks went back towards maintenance of the country parks, with some funds also contributing towards upgrading payment facilities (e.g. contactless payments using mobile phones) and wider park facilities, for example additional bike storage. Some income had been lost due to scheduled events not being able to take place.

·       The parking of vehicles on the verges at the entrances of country parks was a highways issue and had been raised elsewhere. This was an historic problem as verges would not support the weight of parked vehicles.

·       The funds had been agreed for the pool repairs at Chalfont Leisure Centre with completion estimated in seven months. As the centre was closed during lockdown, work was progressing at a good pace. Other work at the centre included the installation of immersive cycling and workout studios.

·       ATG, the operator at Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury, were in contact with theatre production houses and the Council was having discussions with ATG regarding the return of theatre. The ATG contract was due to expire in 2025 and a mid-term contract review was planned in FY2021/22.

·       Different scenarios were being developed for how the WhizzFizz Festival could be conducted in 2021 after its cancellation in 2020 due to the pandemic. It was acknowledged how important the event was for Aylesbury and the surrounding area.

The Committee thanked the Cabinet Members and Service Director for the update and appreciated the work and innovation being demonstrated across the services.