EXECUTIVE MEMBER REPORT TO COUNCIL
WEDNESDAY, 21st JUNE 2006
LIBRARIES
Northern Training Group Conference - Middlesbrough hosted the Northern Training Group Conference for 2006. Forty library managers from across the region attended two days of workshops and seminars. The aim of the conference is to develop leadership skills and this year the theme was change management.
Central Library - Ian Sansom visited the library on 18 May, entertaining an audience with his tales of the librarian detective.
The programme for the official celebration fortnight has now been finalised. The re-launch will take place on 5 July 2006, the Mayor will undertake the official ribbon-cutting. This event takes place 135 years since the opening of the first public library in Middlesbrough.
Activities for young People - During half term libraries will be celebrating World Cup Fever with games, crafts and stories about football.
During June the Library service will be taking part in the national Families Love Libraries Campaign, collecting data on postcards about what families love about libraries. This is promoted through National Sure Start month.
BBC RaW (Reading and Writing) The winner is Sara Dennis, who works at Berwick Hills Library, is first winner of the RaW Star of the Month award. Sara was chosen by the RaW team in conjunction with The Reading Agency. Sara created a Remember 1966 board for people to write their memories of the 1966 World Cup. The match (and upset) at Ayresome Park has caused many library users to add their memories. Sara brought this up to date with requests for memories of a favourite match of all time for the younger members of the community. The Awards team said "It’s a great family and inter-generation memory board."
PLANNING & REGENERATION PROGRAMMES
Local Public Service Agreement (LPSA) Housing Needs and Homelessness Target – Under Priority 2 of the Council’s LPSA agreement to improve independence of vulnerable people, a target has been agreed to reduce the number of homelessness acceptance resulting from domestic violence. As part of the agreement, £74,083 Pump Priming Grant has been awarded, with an additional £80,000 Performance Reward Grant from the previous LPSA, to support activities required to achieve the target. The funding is over 2006/07 and 2007/08. Activities will include appointing a Family Safety Co-ordinator, developing a sanctuary scheme, providing security measures and supporting the provision of a perpetrator programme. Key partners, Middlesbrough Domestic Violence Forum and Safer Middlesbrough Partnership, will be consulted on activities. The target provides direct links to BVPI 225 and will be included in the Service Plan.
Staying Put Agency - the Staying Put Agency held an event day, to celebrate fifteen years of providing assistance with repairs and adaptations to older and disabled people. The event, held on Wednesday, 26th April in the Town Hall Crypt, was to further promote the services and support available to this particular client group. The day, which included a radio interview with staff, refreshments for guests and a free prize raffle was a great success and very well attended.
Development interest in the town continues apace with the following schemes all coming forward through the usual pre-planning application service offered by the Council:
· oil storage facility on Dawson’s Wharf (linked to the approved Bio Diesel facility on the Marske Machine Co site on Forty Foot Road);
· replacement St. Luke’s Hospital Development;
· student flats on the former disco building, Linthorpe Road and the Odeon Site, Corporation Road;
· revised scheme for shops/flats on the Van Centre Site, Acklam Road;
· retail development at Liberty’s site at Longlands roundabout;
· new houses on Saltersgill Avenue (rear of the shops); and,
· shops and houses on the Jet Petrol Station Site in the Eastbourne Road shopping group.
Major planning applications recently dealt with include:
· flats on Lytton Street;
· revised club house design on the Middlesbrough Rugby Football Club site on Green Lane;
· flats on Park Road South;
· housing on the Barberry Site, Coulby Newham;
· new Aldi shop in the Parkway Centre, Coulby Newham;
· shops and flats on Stonehouse Street, Linthorpe; and,
· nursing home on Windermere Road.
The planning application for the controversial Aldi redevelopment of the North Riding Infirmary was dealt with by Planning Committee on 12th May 2006. This application resulted in the biggest petitions against any form of development ever received by the Council. The planning application was refused and to-date Aldi has not confirmed if it will appeal against the Council’s decision.
ECONOMIC & COMMUNITY REGENERATION
Business Competitiveness/Growth Grant - The Business Grants for Growth project is a joint initiative between Middlesbrough Council and Business Link to provide grant funding to business start-ups, growing businesses and inward investors in Middlesbrough. It aims to help businesses to start and grow, therefore assisting to improve the local economy. The third business competitiveness grant panel took place on 24th May. £24,000 was allocated to four Middlesbrough businesses that are expanding or growing their business within the town. The successful recipients were: -
A business which offers a professional service to clients and specialise in bookkeeping, payroll, HR and office administration. It has recently been awarded IIP status and is looking to become a limited company, which will be VAT registered.
A design and manufacturer of bespoke fabrications including conveyor systems, machine guards, access platforms, and ancillary equipment to the food production and process industries.
An ethnic foods retailer which has recently secured contracts to supply foods to a number of outlets throughout the North East of England.
An award winning web designer who wishes to expand e-commerce operations to enable the delivery of a more comprehensive and flexible service to clients.
Casino - Further to the announcement by the Casino Advisory Panel on 24 May 2006, Middlesbrough Council was informed that Middlesbrough had not made the shortlist for a regional casino but was on the shortlist for a large casino. The Economic Development Team is in the process of determining exactly what a large casino could mean for the area and will have further analysis on the situation shortly. Currently the Casino Advisory Panel (CAP) will be undertaking a process of consultation with the RDAs and the public and will finalise their shortlist by 28 June 2006. Bidders will be expected to submit further written information to support their case and a decision is expected towards the end of the year.
Night Time Economy - The Economic Development Team has set up a new partnership to look at diversifying the night time/evening economy in the town. The partnership met for the first time in March and will hold its second meeting in June. It includes representatives from the public and private sector and to date has produced good debate and discussion which builds on the previous scrutiny panel report which looks at opportunities for diversification. The partnership is supported by a Council officer working group, and initiatives currently being progressed include a range of cultural/art events aimed at attracting a ‘teatime’ audience, development of the mima evening programme and a change in the working arrangements for street wardens and Streetscene officers to increase presence on the streets to help improve perceptions of the town centre. The partnership is also looking into public toilet provision and evening parking requirements within the town centre.
MUSEUMS & GALLERIES
mima hosted a consultation lunch with key business people to ascertain feedback on the corporate hire and other elements of the new gallery. This was followed by a hard hat tour of mima.
mima education celebrated Museums and Galleries Month in conjunction with Borders bookshop at Teesside Park with hands-on family activities and a public talk on the new gallery and recent developments.
Construction work focussed on the following areas:.
Gallery: Completion of stone cladding to café wall
Completion of ceilings
Continuation of decoration
Continuation of joinery 2nd fix
Continuation of balustrades
Commence raised and timber flooring
Square: Installation of power supply to water feature plant room
Completion of tree planting and turfing
Dorman Museum - May saw the continuation of the Dorman Museum’s new exhibition 'The Ballad of Big Al', about the making of a BBC documentary about dinosaurs. Over 5,000 people visited the exhibition in the first 10 days.
CULTURAL SERVICES
New Public Art Work WISH LIST – Parkway Shopping Centre, Coulby Newham. As part of a Percent for Art arrangement, Middlesbrough Borough Council has appointed artist Ron Hasleden to develop a new public art commission funded by the Parkway Shopping Centre. Ron’s international commissions include a light-work for Jubilee Gardens at Canary Wharf, an interactive digital piece for the new BBC building in London, as well as his commission for Centre North East, ROSE. WISH LIST will be located in the entrance to the new Tesco store and will be a contemporary artwork that aims to engage the Coulby Newham Community. Senior locals from Dalby Court, Alderwood Nursing Home, the Community Council and shoppers were asked what would be top of their wish list. Selected responses are being digitally manipulated and will be projected across the floor of the space by 16 rotating projectors. WISH LIST will be launched this summer and is designed to be a permanent, low maintenance commission.
Launch of Creative Routes - An exciting programme of activities for young people and their families has been launched in partnership with Extended Schools. Based at four core locations, campuses for media, music, theatre and drama have been established. The programme is driven by a culture of enterprise encouraging young people and their families to engage with creative activities including Internet radio, animation, music, street dance and musical theatre. The programme is underpinned by the Arts Council newly launched Arts Awards Scheme that provides accredited qualifications up to A level standard. The programme promotes independence, peer mentoring and voluntary experience.
Middlesbrough Arts People (MAP) Consultations - Establishing a new artist led organisation for the Tees Valley is the aim of current consultation work with MAP attendees. In collaboration with four other local authorities, Tees Valley Arts and Saltburn Artist Projects, Cultural Services has facilitated the first meeting inviting artists to put forward ideas and to explore ways of meeting artists’ needs. The second meeting is scheduled for mid June. The latest MAP event has attracted 50 artists to discuss new commissions and securing studio space. Representatives from Commissions North, Middlesbrough Town Centre Company and nationally known artist Andy McKeown led the debate. Kitch-en Arts announced the creation of a new artist led studio space and gallery and put out a call for expressions of interest from artists to exhibit.
Tall Tales - The recruitment launch for the team to make the third film in the Tall Tales series has occurred. Led by Curtis Jobling (designer for Bob the Builder), Neil Bushnell, Qurios Entertainments and Clive Tonge (Emmy Award nominated Director), the team selected 12 talented young people to work with them on the pen-ultimate film. The finished product will be screened at Cineworld at the end of July 06.
Middlesbrough Music Live takes place on Sunday 18 June. This free event has become a prestigious fixture on the national music calendar and is the biggest live music extravaganza in the Tees Valley. 12 Stages throughout the town provide a vibrant mix of live music from over 100 bands, this year including comedy, acoustic and open mic stages as well as a BBC bus. The headline band is Ocean Colour Scene with a line up that includes international names, up and coming artists and triple the number of slots for local bands to perform this year as compared to previous events. Wide media coverage is expected, both national and regional.
Planning is well underway for the 16th Middlesbrough Mela on Sunday 16 July. With a range of market stalls, children’s rides, Asian food and entertainment Middlesbrough Mela continues to develop and provide culturally diverse entertainment in the Tees Valley. The Sports Mela is now a permanent feature of the event and takes place on Saturday 15 July.
The June drama season features two popular and prolific playwrights. Hull Truck Theatre present John Godber’s latest play Wrestling Mad and Middlesbrough Little Theatre Company – the resident amateur society – present Alan Ayckbourn’s Confusions.
Two chamber music concerts are also presented – the London Concertante with a programme including Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and the Avison Ensemble with Ronald Brautigam (piano) on the 25th with a largely Mozart programme as part of the theatre’s contribution to the 250th anniversary celebrations. Middlesbrough College – with whose performing arts course the theatre is forming closer links – ends the month with the musical “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”.
Auditions were held recently for the Lost Boys in this year’s pantomime Peter Pan starring Matthew Davies (BBC Radio Cleveland) as Captain Hook. Over 30 boys from Middlesbrough Youth Theatres (the theatre’s associated youth group – and Spotlight Performing Arts) auditioned to a high standard. There was excellent coverage in both the Northern Echo and Evening Gazette. Tickets for the pantomime are already on sale and advance bookings are exceeding last year’s.
The refurbishment scheme continues with replacement of all frontage windows scheduled for August. As well as enhancing appearance, the new windows should also improve ventilation in the bar.
Sell-out concerts in May were those by top Comedian Jimmy Carr (compere from Eight out of Ten Cats) and pop band Dirty Pretty Things. The Chamber Orchestra from Brigham Young University (Utah, USA) held a very successful event as did the North East of England’s Trefoil Guild. Regular events, such as the CD and Record fair and Afternoon Tea Dances, continue. The third Dance Extravaganza closes the month with an afternoon of music, dance and healthy food. Future shows include Dancing in the Streets (Motown’s Greatest Hits) and Denis Rollins (funk / jazz musician voted Best Band in the BBC Jazz Awards) and the annual Music Live Concert (11 hours of live music).
During June, 40,000 copies of a new Middlesbrough and Stockton Visitor Guide will be distributed nationally and locally as the latest in a series of joint initiatives to encourage both local, national and international tourism.
David Budd Executive Report June 2006 2