Agenda item

INFORMATION NOTE OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – COMMERCIAL

To consider the Information Note entitled ‘Community Events Throughout 2022’.

The Chair led a discussion around Community Events Throughout 2022, with a specific focus on the upcoming Platinum Jubilee events.

The Chair invited the Commercial Manager to present the Information Note. The Commercial Manager advised that the Community Engagement Officer, Ash Hawkins, would be providing an overview of planning requirements for events. The Community Engagement Officer advised:

·         Councillors Jim McNally and Sarah Dingley had established the Baldock Events Forum and Royston Events Partnership respectively to support events in the town with sharing licences.

·         The Community Engagement Officer was keen to develop these local partnerships to make running events more streamlined.

·         There were pages and documents on the NHDC website for planning community events but the process can still be daunting to those who have no previous experience.

·         The Community Engagement Team were happy to assist where possible and would offer support and signposting to make the process as pain free as possible. 

In response to points raised by the Community Engagement Officer, the Hitchin BID Manager and Letchworth BID Manger advised that they do allow community groups to run events using BID licences and went further to offer support with paperwork and road closures.

The Assistant Community Engagement Officer echoed comments made and noted that as well as practical support, the team has a large reach to amplify events across the district, as demonstrated with the Tractor Lights event in December.

Councillor Val Bryant advised that she had received an email, as Chair of the Council, from the Lord Lieutenants office offering their attendance at any Jubilee events in the district. The Chair confirmed that a representative was already due for attendance at the Hitchin events.

The Chair invited those present to discuss obstacles faced in putting on events, where the Council could better support community groups with this or any other comments relating to putting on community events.

The following Members and members of the public took part in the discussion:

·         Cath Boughton – Royston First Manager

·         Cathy Andrews – Letchworth BID Manager

·         Jim McNally – Baldock Big Lunch Committee

·         James Willis – Hitchin Arts Group 

·         Ashley Hawkins – Community Engagement Officer

·         Councillor Judi Billing

·         Councillor Michael Muir

·         Councillor Sarah Dingley

·         Tom Hardy – Hitchin BID Manager

·         Emma Rowe – St Mary’s School PTA

Points raised included:

·         Plans for events in Royston were in the early stages, but it was hoped an event could be hosted in Priory Memorial Gardens and a shop window decoration competition would be held.

·         It was useful to hear from others putting on events what their ideas were and what issues they may have faced.

·         There would be events held in Letchworth, but these had been delayed following a recent reshuffle of BID officer staff. While nothing was yet confirmed, it was hoped family events could be held across the weekend, with local businesses involved. 

·         The Eden Project website had support packages and framework documents available for anyone looking to put on a “Big Lunch” style event.

·         Support available on the NHDC website had not been looked at by those present when arranging events and it was suggested that these pages could be more useful if they offered ideas for events and links to relevant pages (e.g. licensing).

·         A timeframe would be useful, so organisers know when certain aspects of arranging events need to be completed, for example when to apply for licences, road closures, etc.

·         NHDC advice had generally come through verbal support from the Community Engagement Team rather than from NHDC website.

·         Baldock was the only town in the district without a BID and therefore did not have a Town Centre Manager to assist with events. The events in Baldock were all run by volunteers and often requests to the Baldock Events Forum forget this, so NHDC help would be appreciated.

·         Long term it would be beneficial to fund a Town Centre Manager for Baldock, as volunteers will leave at some stage.

·         Previous attempts to establish a BID in Baldock had failed due to the lack of industry in Baldock, often proposals fell on deaf ears and it did not progress further.

·         The Safety Advisory Group at NHDC had a calendar of events across the district and perhaps the public information on this could be shared on the website.

·         A weekly list of events was circulated to Members and it was requested that it be explored whether this could be distributed more widely and publicly.

·         Cross promotion of events from organisations and BIDs would be useful and would serve residents well, but this could also be supported through NHDC social media and other communication channels.

·         This cross promotion might encourage village residents in the district to attend events in towns which were not necessarily their usual or nearest.

·         Promotion for events in Baldock and Royston was generally based around social media, although some paper leaflets were made for local distribution (including surrounding villages). This was often reflected in the attendees at the events in these towns, who were generally local.

·         Hitchin Creative Group could run a series of smaller scale events in the run up to the main events planned across the Jubilee weekend to help with promotion.

·         Hitchin BID events were generally repurposed from other towns and they were keen to share their experiences and knowledge with other towns in the district, as they had already done with the Jubilee event planning.

·         The Hitchin BID Manager was Chair of the Vibrant Towns group, which included all town centre managers in Herts, and this offered an honest look at past event experiences, including sharing of contractors, prices/contract and details of hire, as well as other information.

·         Cost had often been prohibitive to putting on events at some of the others towns and the suggested pooling of knowledge and experiences from Hitchin BID was welcomed.

·         Baldock Big Lunch worked on a ticketed basis, as this was required to ensure the local businesses ordered supplies specifically for the event and to minimise waste.

·         The Community Engagement Officer had good contacts regarding First Aid and Portaloos for events and was happy to share these where required.

·         The website addtoevent.co.uk was suggested as a useful starting point, as you can search what is required and suppliers will make contact with you directly.

·         Given the possibility of rain and the impact this will have on attendances, it was strongly advised to get in touch with the Council to make plans for food waste and recycling.  

·         It was noted that other events in the district, and across the country, would have a knock on effect on supplies of certain items and so it was advised to book early. It was highlighted that there was a Liam Gallagher concert at Knebworth House which would further impact on portable toilet supplies.  

·         Due to the event at Knebworth House, there would be limited number of police around to support the Hitchin events, specifically with road closures where they would usually assist.

·         It was expected that by April there would be a shortage of union bunting, so was important to sort this early.

·         The Community Engagement Officer was collating information around “cul-de-sac events” and encouraged people to let him know about where these were happening.

·         Previous quotes for waste management services at Baldock Community Fireworks were extremely high and it would be prohibitive for smaller organisations. Luckily this event was held at a school and so bins on site could be used for waste.

·         It was highlighted that for events there was a 25 page Safety Advisory Board document required and it was felt that this was not always properly read by those responsible at the Council. This was identified as a possible hinderance to event organisers who see it as too many hurdles.

The Chair thanked those for taking part in the discussion and noted that Portfolio Holders and Officers responsible were in attendance and would likely act accordingly on the feedback heard.