St Andrews Partnership - Board of Directors
Minute of Meeting held on 26 June 2014
at The Scores Hotel, commencing 12.30 noon
Present: Manuela Calchini, Jim McArthur, Ronnie Murphy, Gillian Swanney, Niall Thompson, Graham Wynd, Roddy Yarr.
In attendance: Patrick Laughlin (Manager), Chris Kennedy (Online & Communications Executive).
Apologies for absence: Linda-anne Beaulier, Jude Innes, Cllr Keith McCartney, Cllr Dorothea Morrison, Niall Scott, Laurie Watson, Stephen Westwood and Kate Hughes.
Mr McArthur in the Chair.
Action Points are shown in red italics.
1. Apologies for Absence and Intimations
Apologies from the above-mentioned were noted.
The Chairman intimated that Debbie MacCallum (Vice-Chair) had sent a letter advising of her resignation from the Board, which he had reluctantly accepted . Linda-anne Beaulier had advised of her resignation from the Fundraising Sub-Committee.
Niall Thompson was then proposed as Vice-Chairman, and this was agreed unanimously.
2. Declarations of Interest
No declarations of interest were made by Directors.
3. Minute of Previous Meeting
The minute of the meeting held on 1 May 2014 was approved as a true and accurate record of the meeting.
4. Matters Arising
(a) Community Council representative – the Royal Burgh of St Andrews Community Council had advised that its representative on the Partnership Board would henceforth be Mr Ronnie Murphy. The Chairman welcomed Mr Murphy to his first meeting. The Chairman added that the Community Council had a new Chairman, Mr Howard Greenwell, whom he had already met to discuss subjects of common interest, and this dialogue would continue on a regular basis.
(b) Car Parking in town centre - the Chairman reported on a further meeting which had taken place with Fife Council's Head of Transportation and local members. The Council had been fairly receptive to the idea of relaxing the periods of day during which car parking was chargeable; a report proposing this would go to Council committee later in the summer.
(c) Relocation of Statue of St Andrew – the Chairman reported on progress. He had been to look at the statue and had asked a local stonemason to provide an estimate for repair and relocation (perhaps on a new plinth). A site at the A91 entrance point had been identified and Fife Council Transportation Service appeared to be comfortable with this, subject to final proposals. The Chairman added that he would also possiblylike to see the statue illuminated providing an interesting welcome to St Andrews, but this would be for a future project.
(d) Office accommodation – the Chairman reported that Fife Council had agreed to lease the former Byre Box Office on South Street, and the separate office accommodation located behind, for £300 per year each (exact details of the lease had still to be finalised). He envisaged that the office space would be shared with the St Andrews BID Co-ordinator and the Fife Festivals Officer. He felt that the former Box Office would provide the Partnership with a physical presence in the town and – literally - a shop window to promote events, merchandise etc. The fascia board on South Street would need to be replaced/repainted with the Partnership's logo in due course, and planning approval would be required for this.
5. Chairman's Report
The Chairman summarised and updated the meeting on aletter which had been received from the “Light Up St Andrews” group, signed by Mr S Mitchell. The letter and the Chairman’s reply had been copied to the Board, prior to the issue of the Board papers and he confirmed that he had also met the group members. The group had expressed its wish to take over responsibility for fundraising for and installation ofthe St Andrews festive lights. The Chairman had expressed his view that this would not be appropriate, as the lights agreement was between the Partnership and Fife Council.
Following the resignations of both Debbie MacCallum and Linda-anne Beaulier, the Chairman proposed that the Fundraising Committee in its present form should be disbanded, as no Board members remained and that a new Fundraising Committee be set up. This would be comprised of the Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Treasurer, supported by the Manager. Its role would be to prepare a strategic fundraising plan, and the intention would be that this plan would be drafted and circulated to the Board by around the end of July. He stressed that the new committee would be strategic in nature – other Directors and volunteers would be enlisted to provide support for the actions and events identified in the plan. The Chairman's proposal was agreed. The Manager would convene a meeting of the new Committee during July; it was also agreed that the Chairman should respond to the letter from the “Light Up St Andrews” group confirming the decisions of the Board.
The Chairman also tabled the letter received from Linda-anne Beaulier resigning as Chair of the Fundraising Committee and listing a number of other matters causing her concern. After some discussion the Board agreed that the Chairman should personally carry out a full investigation into the matters raised, and reply to her. He would also advise the Board of the outcomes. In answer to a question from Graham Wynd, the Chairman replied that he did not think that any immediate actions were required, but that he did think lessons had to be learned about the induction of Board members, the transfer of information between sub-committees and board, how the Partnership managed its relationships with volunteers, etc.
Gillian Swanney said she agreed with the proposed course of action; all sub-committees needed clear and comprehensive rules of operation, and new Directors should also have an induction session. The Manager described the current Director induction process; Niall Thompson (the most recent inductee) said that in his view the process was comprehensive and fully adequate.
Manuela Calchini asked about possible reputational damage to the Partnership which might result from the recent concerns expressed. The Chairman replied that he had already been speaking directly to various local groups to reassure them that it was 'business as usual' for the Partnership – though it would be regrettable if St Andrews ended up with two groups fundraising for the same cause. He was meeting the following day with St Andrews Merchants Association, and Chris Kennedy was discussing closer website integration ideas with StayinStAndrews.
The Chairman also advised the meeting that he had received two days prior to the Board meeting a further letter from Mr S Mitchell on the topic of copyright/intellectual property rights relating to the use of the word “LUST” and the phrase “Light Up St Andrews”. Immediate steps had been taken to address the issues raised by Mr Mitchell and a reply had been sent within 24 hours.
6. Treasurer's Report
Stephen Westwood had circulated a report prior to the meeting, and this was noted. He would be asked why “expenditure” appeared at the top of the spreadsheets rather than “income”.
Ronnie Murphy asked whether it was a concern that the Partnership had incurred a large financial deficit in 2013-14; it was explained that this was due to the timings of payments on Martyrs' Monument project, and had been budgeted for after a large surplus had been incurred on the project in 2012-13.
Graham Wynd asked abut progress with the FET grant for Martyrs' Monument and the Manager said that he had had constructive discussions with the FET Chair. An outcome was anticipated soon.
Mr Westwood had also provided a paper on “commercial income” - this would be considered at the next meeting.
7. Investigation into a BID for St Andrews
A report which had been circulated prior to the meeting was noted. The Chairman reported that he was meeting the BID Working Group Chairman and the BID Co-ordinator the following day for a progress report and to see if any further help from the Partnership was required.
8. Lighting of Castle and Cathedral
A report which had been circulated previously was noted. Roddy Yarr said that he was awaiting a response from Historic Scotland; he expected that the Partnership would have to provide Historic Scotland with sufficient comfort about aspects such as ownership and ability to meet long-term running costs. He also advised that St Andrews Community Trust had conditionally awarded the lighting project £10,000. This news was warmly welcomed. The Chairman added that St Andrews Links Trust had indicated previously that it might be able to provide 'in kind' support via its own in-house tradesmen.
9. St Andrews Tourism Showcase, Tues 20 May
A report which had been circulated previously was noted. The meeting agreed that it had been a good first effort, and the Chairman felt that it should definitely be repeated in 2015, taking note of the modifications suggested from the exhibitor/delegate feedback. The possibilities of merging the event with a Fife-wide occasion (e.g. Fife Tourism Conference) were discussed, but it was felt that this might dilute its St Andrews focus.
Gillian Swanney thanked the Manager for his efforts, which had ensured that the event had run efficiently.
10. Partnership Advisory Forum, 16 June
A report which had been circulated previously was noted. The Chairman felt that the evening had gone well.
It was agreed that the first bullet point in the note of the event should be amended to read “The Links Trust's trademarking of the name “St Andrews” in respect of golf-related goods and services, and the consequent impacts on local businesses.”
Graham Wynd said that the Preservation Trust concurred with the issues which had been raised re pavement obstructions and wheelie bins/bin bags. Roddy Yarr described how the bin problem had been dealt with successfully at Crail's Lane, and it was agreed that the Partnership should enter into discussions with the Community Council and Fife Council to look at whether there were other streets/micro-areas of the town in which waste disposal could be dealt with in a similar way.The Manager would try to arrange such a discussion.
11. St Andrews Destination Plan
The draft document which had been circulated previously was noted. It was agreed that further work was need on this, including the preparation of an easily-understood summary in graphic form. Gillian Swanney and the Manager would work on this and report back to the next meeting.
12. Dunhill Links Championship 2014
A report which had been circulated previously was noted. The Manager said he was meeting Dunhill representatives on 30 June. He would ask about the possibility of extending the display period of the public artworks. He also confirmed that Dunhill would be handling the national/international PR regarding the proposed activities. Proposals would be brought forward for Community Involvement.
13. Open Championship 2015
There was a discussion about ways to maximise the benefits of this event for town centre businesses. Gillian Swanney said that Scottish Enterprise would fund an 'innovation workshop' which would bring businesses together to discuss and develop ideas. The meeting felt that this was a good idea. The Chairman would speak to the Merchants Association about this.
14. Manager’s Report
The report which had been circulated previously was noted.
15. Updates from local organisations
(a) B&B Association – Linda-anne Beaulier had reported that B&Bs were enjoying a buoyant summer season, after a slow start to the year. There was quite a lot of accommodation still available during the Ryder Cup period. The Association was in the process of revamping its website.
16. Any Other Business
(a) B2B communications – Chris Kennedy suggested that the Partnership needed to be more proactive in telling local businesses about its activities. He suggested that one easy way to help achieve this would be to use social media such as Twitter to provide 'as it happens' updates, as well as retrospective reports to Board meetings. This was agreed.
17. Date of next meeting
The next Board meeting would be held on Thursday 18 September at 12.30 pm (venue to be announced).
There being no further business, the meeting was closed at 2.25 pm.