Agenda item

To receive any questions from members of the Council, of which due notice has been given in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10, to be submitted and answered.

The Mayor advised that eight questions from Members of the Council had been received under Council Procedure Rule 10.

 

1. Question from Councillor Hill

 

The Overview and Scrutiny Reduction of Single Use Plastic Working Group made the recommendation to install water fountains in key areas of the Town.

 

Can you say if any drinking water fountains have been installed or are planned to be installed?

 

Answer from Councillor Dr Basu

 

From discussions with British Land about their £11 million refurbishment of RVP and Elysian’s development of the cinema site both are considering installing water fountains.

 

Royal Tunbridge Wells Together Business Improvement District is also exploring options for water fountains in the town centre. Discussions have started with the water company about providing assistance with this.

 

We are working with the Friends of Dunorlan to find a location for a water bottle filling station in the park and we have plans bottle filling stations in The Grove and St John’s Park.

 

Supplementary question from Councillor Hill

 

In Britain we get through £8b single use plastic bottles of water each year with only a fraction being recycled. Could we look at doing what many towns are doing, and put one in the centre of our town, now would perhaps be the time to put one in front of the Amelia Scott Cultural Hub for the students who could fill their water bottles up with that?

 

Answer from Councillor Dr Basu

 

Yes, we can certainly do that. But also, I am sure you are aware of, Government is already on the way to resolving this issue. They are going to do this charge for these bottles, and are trying to find a better way of doing it and how this charge will be repaid. So that will be more effective, than putting plastic bottles here and there. 

 

2. Question from Councillor Warne was withdrawn

 

3. Question from Councillor Rands

 

In the early July, TWBC announced that survey work was being carried out in Calverley Grounds; however it was unclear why they were there. Could the Cabinet explain what the purpose of this survey was?

 

Answer from Councillor Scott

 

The Council is completing ‘RIBA Stage 4’ of Calverley Square. As part of this the Council is undertaking scheduled archaeological investigation in compliance with the planning conditions. This work carried out on the 4 July was non-intrusive geophysical investigation. You may be familiar with this from Time Team. The survey work included a gradiometer (a cart which was pulled/pushed across the area) scanning the area non-intrusively. In addition a GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) survey was also undertaken.

 

The Geophysical Survey undertaken was to try to locate a well shown on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map. Preliminary results from the Ground Penetrating Radar Survey show that the well has been located within the approximate position of the well shown on the mapping, however further processing and a report will be produced in due course. The detailed gradiometer survey attempted across the remainder of the site was less successful due to the number of services within the site.

 

4. Question from Councillor Lidstone

 

To date, how many residents have subscribed to the Council's new opt-in garden waste service?

 

Answer from Councillor Dr Basu

 

As of 6pm today we have received 9,156 subscriptions for the new service. With the introductory offer closing in two weeks recent demand has been exceptionally strong with 481 subscriptions alone being taken up yesterday.

 

It might be helpful to use this opportunity to remind residents that the £10 off offer closes on 2 August so I'm sure that councillors will be encouraging their residents who want the service to take advantage of this.

 

Supplementary question from Councillor Lidstone

 

The Council target of 15,000 members of the public to sign up to the scheme, are you confident that you will reach that target?

 

Answer from Councillor Dr Basu

 

Yes, actually it is not 15,000; I don’t know where you got that figure from. It is around 13,000 subscriptions we are working for, which is approximately 30%. And yes, I am pretty confident that we will get it.

 

5. Question from Councillor Chapelard

 

Please could you provide: a) the total subsidy; and b) the total attendance figures for the Assembly Hall Theatre for the last 5 years ending 2018/19?

 

Answer from Councillor March

 

Year    Total Attendance         Subsidy (£)

2018/19           130,661           479,276

2017/18           146,515           346,463

2016/17           126,337           180,422

2015/16           167,878           398,304

2014/15           124,611           230,930

 

Supplementary question from Councillor Chapelard

 

Given that Councillors were repeatedly told in the lead up to the Calverley Square development that the subsidy for the Assembly Hall was around £250,000, how does a portfolio holder account for the differences and variations from £180,000 to £479,000 in the subsidy?

 

Answer from Councillor March

 

The Assembly Hall Theatre has less than 1000 seats, but during the years 2018/19 the theatre has been able to report some good results alongside the increased subsidy and the new community work it has been delivering. So we are starting to see a different programme and the theatre’s place in the community is being reinforced through the creative learning projects we are delivering. Unfortunately fixed costs like cleaning and maintenance and business rates have increased and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to attract popular shows at commercially viable rates, which has impacted attendance and subsidy in 2018/19.

 

So Councillor Chapelard might also be interested to know that the 2018 box office figures recently released by the Society of London Theatre and UK Shows, show that generally while there were strong ticket sales across the country with income, average ticket price and number of performances  are all up but the income dipped in smaller theatres. So the UK Theatre and Society of London Theatre (SOLT) have released data for ticket sales across their member venues in 2018. This is the first time data has been jointly released for the West End and the rest of the UK. Revealing the resilience of the UK’s theatre industry, the data shows strong audience and ticket sales figures from SOLT and UK Theatre members including several new records. The figures reveal a combined audience of over 34m and ticket revenue of nearly £1.28bn, from a total of nearly 63,000 performances over the course of the year in the West End and across the UK.

 

London’s West End theatres drew in audiences totalling over 15.5m last year, resulting in box office revenue of over £765m, both record figures and generating over £127m in VAT for the Treasury.  This year saw an increase in the number of performances to nearly 19,000, up 2.8% from 2017.  Hit shows including Hamilton had an impact on overall ticket sales in a very strong year for musicals, while plays experience a dip in audiences and revenue. Audiences for theatres across the rest of the country topped 18.8m, with box office of over £509m.Theatres reported a slight increase in attendances  and also number of performances, up by 0.2%, as well as a rise in income and average ticket price.   This was largely due to increased yield at the biggest presenting houses, but smaller producing theatres saw the largest dip in attendance.  We are one of the smaller ones.

 

Ours is a smaller producing theatre, we saw the largest dip in attendance and revenue, so falling back in line with previous years after an unusually strong 2017.  So high quality musicals, in larger, that’s 1,200 and above presenting houses support our argument that if Tunbridge Wells is to continue to have a viable theatre this needs to be of a suitable size and quality.

 

6. Question from Councillor Pound

 

Can the Council explain the public engagement and consultation process it has undertaken prior to moving recreational facilities into the Gallery Space in the TN2 Community Centre?

 

Answer from Councillor Mackonochie

 

The museum, library and adult education buildings in Royal Tunbridge Wells are being vacated to allow work to begin on creating the new cultural and learning Hub.

 

As a consequence Kent County Council (KCC) will relocate the many adult education classes it currently runs in the Monson Road building to other locations during the works. To that end they approached TWBC to use the Sherwood TN2 Gallery space and kitchen area as an alternative venue and under the Cultural and Learning Hub collaborative agreement we have agreed to help them.  KCC will need to start preparing the space and we expect them to require access from the end of July 2019.  KCC as providers of Adult Education are responsible for consultation with their users.

 

Supplementary Question from Councillor Pound

 

Can you confirm therefore that this Council has no policy that requires public engagement, consultation, officer and/or member responses to the many projects that are impacting our communities as has been confirmed quite clearly by some of the questions this evening?

 

Answer from Councillor Mackonochie

 

Could you just clarify, was that all of the projects. I will have to look into all the projects, and I will respond to you duly.

 

7. Question from Councillor Pope

 

What is the Council doing to look after the welfare of residents of Broadwater and nearby who will be impacted financially and health wise by the closure of the Rowan Tree GP Surgery?

 

Answer from Councillor Mackonochie

 

The future of services at the Rowan Tree surgery is subject to a consultation with patients. The consultation will help inform the decision making of the NHS West Kent Clinical Commissioning Board when they consider the proposal from the Clanricarde Medical Group to amalgamate services to their premises in St John’s Road. The two local ward councillors have been lobbying for the surgery to remain open and have been encouraging patients to make their views know via the consultation which closes on 7 August. As Portfolio holder I will be raising this issue with the CCG prior to their Primary Care Commission meeting where the proposal will be considered.

 

Supplementary question from Councillor Pope

 

If they do decide to close the surgery, how will the Borough Council be impacted by the closure of it and will it put additional strain on the services provided by the Borough Council?

 

Answer from Councillor Mackonochie

 

I think that as this is a CCG decision it would be very hard at this stage to say exactly what that would be, but it would be the CCG making that decision, we don’t do that. We can only lobby and I will, as I said, raise the issue with them.

 

8. Question from Councillor Pope

 

What impact has the drab exterior of the Assembly Hall Theatre and lack of an open box office inside the entrance had on ticket sales and the subsidy of the theatre?

 

Answer from Councillor March

 

There has been no specific research commissioned to understand the link between the fascia of the building and relocation of box office services and their impact on attendance and subsidy.

 

The box office service was relocated in January 2017, and in the 2017/18 financial year attendance was higher than the previous year. Online bookings increased from 53% to 80 per cent. In the same period box office revenues increased from £1.74 million (16/17) to £2.01 million (17/18). This suggests that there was no negative impact, but this is not the basis of any direct research.

 

The change in delivery of the box office service enabled the creation of the Creative Learning department which has since February 2017 engaged with over 8000 participants (not included in attendance figures), working on projects such as free Youth Theatres in Sherwood and Cranbrook, a dementia and isolation project for the elderly, a variety of schools and arts based projects to mention a few.

 

Supplementary question from Councillor Pope

 

Most retailers and other businesses understand the need for changing their displays regularly to attract customers, and showcase their latest products. Why isn’t the Council promoting the shows at the Assembly Hall Theatre Canopy where all passing motorists and pedestrians can see the current and upcoming shows? A few years ago the Council was happy to spend £25,000 on hoardings around the cinema site to promote the rest of the Borough.

 

Answer from Councillor March

 

If I might just correct you there, actually the hoardings were £22,000, and they have been there for quite a long time, and also they have advertised a lot of what is going on throughout the Borough. The canopy you mentioned, no flower beds or planters can be placed immediately outside the Theatre as this poses an evacuation and general risk, hanging baskets are ordinarily present to the left and right of the canopy, one has recently been taken away for repair. Anything larger than a couple of hanging baskets are likely to require listed buildings consent  and such works are likely to incur significant expense. The canopy was risk assessed and it was decided that the risks are too great for decoration on top of it and the manual operation of the lettering, so any future works would be subject to both listed building consent and health and safety. But you know, I am sure if elected members were minded to mobilise themselves and fundraise for the work, the Theatre team would embrace the contribution and see what they could actually do.