Agenda item

Purpose: To receive a presentation on activities in West Berkshire celebrating the 2012 Olympic Games.

The Head of Cultural Services, David Appleton, introduced Item 9 by stating that the West Berkshire Partnership was co-ordinating the delivery of a programme of local activities designed to allow the residents of West Berkshire to meet the potential of the opportunities offered by the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games. He then showed the Commission a short film that showed in general terms the route of the Olympic Torch from its arrival in Britain.

(Note: 7.17pm: Councillor Andrew Rowles joined the meeting).

After the film Mr Appleton informed the Commission that there were three strands to the programme, with the passage through West Berkshire of the Torch Relay providing one of the links between each strand. The strands were:

• Education, Sport and Community;

Delivered by schools themselves with Park House and Theale Green taking a lead role as the employers of the “School games organisers”;

• Local Economy;

Suppliers to London 2012;

Visitor Economy;

• Community Celebration;   

Mainly led by town and parish councils or voluntary and community groups supported by WBC arts and leisure staff.

In amplifying the Education, Sport and Community strand, Mr Appleton was able to advise that school games were being organised and that Park House and Theale Green schools had funding for two years to employ School Games Organisers. The games would be structured into 4 levels:

·         Level 1           - Competitions organised within the school;

·         Level 2           - Ongoing and regular inter school competition;

·         Level 3           - County of Berkshire School Games;

o       Primary Festivals     19/20 April (Berkshire) and 26th June 2012 (West Berkshire);

o       Secondary Festival 27/28 June 2012 (Berkshire);

·         Level 4           - National Event. Participation by invitation only.

There would also be curriculum activity, led by Park House School which had been grant aided to support other schools in the area. The aim was to create a ‘cross curricular Olympic and Paralympic Values resource’ available for all West Berkshire Schools. Independent schools would need to buy into the Schools Sports Partnership to be included.

Finally there was a link with an International Learning Programme. This formed part of the British Council Connecting Classrooms Partnership. Other schools involved were St. Nicholas (Woolhampton), The Castle (Theale Green), Falkland Primary and The Willows.

The Local Economy stand was broken down into two elements, ‘Compete For…’ and The Visitor Economy.

‘Compete For…’ encouraged local businesses to bid for the some of the many contracts arising directly from the games. Although awareness had previously been raised, through the Chamber of Commerce, and some local companies had been successful (IFP Forest and Paper Products (Newbury), Berkshire Consultancy (Beech Hill) and Tony Ridley Hyperbaric Associates Ltd (Westridge Green by Basildon) were cited as examples) many local companies had not registered and had no intention of doing so. 

The main impact on the Visitor Economy was likely to be on the retail footfall figures resulting from event’s programmes across the district.  Some work was still needed to bring together the performance outcomes of the event’s organisers with benefits of increased footfall. There had been no visible effect on accommodation enquiries at this stage. There was however likely to be a late surge when visitors to the rowing and flat water canoeing events at Eaton Dorney found that Windsor and the surrounding area did not have sufficient capacity.

The final strand, Community Celebration, was focussed on local groups deciding how they wanted to celebrate and being supported by the information and know-how of the Council. Support would be face to face and on-line through the ‘Enjoy!’ website. Mr Appleton advised that many communities were linking Jubilee celebrations with London 2012. There were likely to be a limited number of major events, mainly led by others, but where the Council was expected to be a key stakeholder and facilitator, for example the Newbury Outdoor Events programme. The Torch Relay was scheduled for Wednesday 11th July, 2012. The general approach taken to Community Celebration was that the Council would ‘build the stage, local Communities put on the show’ through Local Community Task Groups. There was extensive co-ordination needed between Council Services and external groups such as Thames Valley Police, schools, town and parish councils and the business community. It was expected that there would be local torch bearers.   

The Council had a number of contractual obligations with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG). These were to:

·         Provide a named individual for liaison with LOCOG;

·         Establish Community Task Force(s);

o       Local Community;

o       District Wide;

·         Issue permits, licences, consents, road closures, Traffic Orders etc. (6 months in advance);

·         Conduct risk assessments;

·         Organise stewarding;

·         Be responsible for street cleansing and waste management;

·         Ensuring that site dressing met with the Games’ official look and feel; and

·         Marketing and Communication.

In support of the meeting these obligations the Thames Valley Police 2012 Forum had been established to focus on highways matters and had met for the first time on 17^th November 2011. Overall responsibility for the Torch Relay security rested with the Metropolitan Police. A first briefing for West Berkshire Council Officers had also taken place on 17^th November 2011.

LOCOG had provided a time line for major announcements and Mr Appleton was able to advise the Commission that the names of the Torch Bearers would be announced in February. The Council was working on the publication of a West Berkshire 2012 Events Calendar and communications strategy to support it. Mr Appleton drew Members’ attention to the LOCOG webpages for ‘local leaders’, which outlined what communities might do to celebrate the games, and the Council’s West Berkshire Enjoy! pages, which gave information on local activities. These could be seen at the links below:

http://www.london2012.com/get-involved/local-leaders/

http://www.westberksenjoy.org.uk/

In response to questions from Members of the Commission Mr Appleton was able to clarify that:

·         The Council was in communication with some communities and was trying to determine the numbers of people likely to turn out and watch the Torch Relay. The actual route of the Relay was not known in detail and had yet to be determined by LOCOG.

·         Responsibility for organising and funding events rested with communities, although the Council would carry out some co-ordination of activities, through its West Berkshire Enjoy! website, and by facilitating economies of scale for purchasing where appropriate.

·         Decisions on the deployment of pedestrian barriers would be based on local risk assessments, yet to be completed. Again, communities would be liable for any costs incurred.

The Commission supported the proposal by Councillor David Holtby that the Council could organise a ‘welcome back’ for West Berkshire athletes returning from the games.

The Chairman thanked David Appleton for a useful, interesting and informative briefing. Members of the Commission agreed that as the games grew closer it would be useful for them to receive further updates.

RESOLVED that

1.      David Appleton should investigate the viability of organising a recognition event for West Berkshire athletes returning from the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

2.      David Appleton would be invited to update the Commission on the preparations for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in February and May 2012.