AGENDA ITEM 11

BOROUGH OF POOLE

LOCAL ECONOMY OVERVIEW GROUP

28 FEBRUARY 2008

GRANTS FOR CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

1.BACKGROUND

1.1The Grants Panel established the Council’s policy on grant aid for Christmas lights in 2006. It is to support the installation and de-installation of Christmas lights (in district centres) up to a maximum of 50% of the costs and subject to a ceiling of £3000 in any one year. This is subject to a clear demonstration of financial need and the submission of other supporting information as required under the Council’s Grants to Voluntary Bodies Scheme. Applicants are required to make annual bids to the Council in advance.

1.2In 2006/7, the Council agreed to the following grant aid:

  • £1000 - Poole Chamber of Trade & Commerce (Lower Parkstone & Penn Hill)
  • £1000 - Broadstone Chamber of Trade & Commerce
  • £2150 – Ashley Road Chamber of Commerce

1.3The grant paid to Poole Chamber has since been repaid, as traders were unable to raise match funding for displays in 2007.

1.4The purpose of this report is to raise some issues facing the Council in dealing with the current round of applications and to obtain the views of members on possible responses.

2.CURRENT APPLICATIONS

  • £38000 – Canford Cliffs Traders Association
  • £3000 – Ashley Road Chamber of Commerce
  • £1500 – Broadstone Chamber of Trade & Commerce

3.ISSUES

3.1The Secretary of Ashley Road Chamber of Commerce has commented that limited resources meant that the 2007 display in Ashley Road was limited in scale and did not have the impact that was hoped for. Poole Chamber was unable to put on any kind of display owing to the lack of match funding from traders. In thesecircumstances and given the currentceiling on grant aid, there must be some doubt over whether the Council can make a real difference to the quality of Christmas light displays in Ashley Road, Lower Parkstone and Penn Hill.

3.2None of the Chambers that have been supported to date have been able to show that the Council’s grant aid has made any difference to local trading performance. However, the Secretaries of both Ashley Road Chamber and Broadstone Chamber have made it clear that the local communities they represent expect the Council to support Christmas lights and the withdrawal of such funding would affect the viability of their activities. In the view of the Secretary of Ashley Road Chamber, 2008 is a ‘make or break’ year for the organisation; the withdrawal of funding could affect the survival of the Chamber.

3.3In Canford Cliffs, the Traders Association were able to install a relatively high quality display last Christmas. This demonstrates that the capacity to raise funding for Christmas light displays varies between the different chambers and traders associations. This raises the question of whether the Council should focus on the building of capacity within these organisations as part of a strategy to support the district centres.

3.4It is interesting to note that in Bournemouth, the Borough Council puts up all the Christmas lights in Bournemouth Town Centre, Boscombe, Westbourne, Winton, Kinson, Moordown and Southbourne. Lighting Engineers (part of Transportation) pay for the installation of these lights (this is in contrast to the situation in Poole where Transportation charges for installation where the Council is specified as the contractor). However, many of the lights in Bournemouth are quite old and are in need of replacement; there is sufficient funding to replace only 2% per annum. The indication from Bournemouth’s Town Centre Manager is that in the longer term, there will be fewer lights displayed unless the traders purchase them.

4.POSSIBLE RESPONSES

4.1With regard to Christmas lights, there are a number of possible responses with the last two potentially complementing each other:

  • Continue with the current policy with its limited impact on the quality of Christmas light displays and trade but enable the chambers of trade to put up some Christmas lights; if this is the preferred option, it is recommended that the Council should resist funding expenditure retrospectively owing to the difficulty in determining financial need.
  • Discuss with the chambers the possibility of spending the grant aid on projects that have the potential to deliver better value for money in terms of the direct impact on business performance e.g. mystery shopper exercises, training and mentoring support and/or building the capacity of the chambers to raise funding.
  • Work with the chambers to investigate alternative sources of funding for Christmas lights that will deliver a bigger impact e.g. major commercial sponsorship that could generate more substantial funding for Christmas lights. Such funding could also support floral displays and other improvements to the appearance of district centres where existing chambers/trade associations cannot raise the necessary funds from their members. However, to be effective, this approach would necessitate the building of the capacity of the chambers.

5.RECOMMENDATION

5.1Members to consider the report and offer guidance that could form the basis of a further report to the Grants Panel on a more considered approach to the funding of Christmas lights

DAVID RALPH

HEAD OF STRATEGIC PLANNING SERVICES

Contact Officer for Report:

Peter Wheelhouse

Strategic Planning Services

Tel:01202 633032

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