New way forward proposed for civic halls

Date published: 03 March 2010

A report recommending a new and financially sustainable way forward for two of Bury’s civic venues will be presented to Bury Council’s ruling executive on March 10.

The executive will be discussing the outcome of the Civic Venues Review, which has been carried out over the last three months by the Civic Venues Task and Finish Group.

Its report to the executive focuses only on options for the Longfield Suite in Prestwich and Radcliffe Civic Suite, and has been informed by an extensive public consultation exercise which took place in January and February during which more than 1,300 individual responses were received. No closure options were considered, in line with the original report to the executive.

The proposals are: 

• The Longfield Suite – the Task and Finish Group is recommending that this be retained in its current format, but an effective business plan be put in place to improve marketing, awareness, usage and income. The group considers that it can build on and promote its reputation as a venue for dance activities, which have proved popular and which help to ensure that local residents have access to health and well being activities. Around 72% of Longfield Suite users who responded in the survey said they used the suite for dancing events.
  
  These revised arrangements would be operated over an agreed period of between 18-24 months and be reviewed after 12 months by the council’s Management Board. 
• Radcliffe Civic Suite – the report recommends that the council should consider external management opportunities for Radcliffe Civic Suite. This option would see the management and operation of Radcliffe Civic Suite provided by an external organisation, under contract with the council, with an agreed level of community use. This external organisation could provide the specialist skills required to effectively market and utilise the venue to best effect and also reduce the financial exposure of the council.
  
  Consideration of the future use of Ramsbottom Civic Hall and the Elizabethan Suite in Bury will be undertaken as a second phase of this review.

Mike Kelly, deputy chief executive of Bury Council, said: “The review of civic venues has been a long and challenging process. However, it is clear that if the council is to continue to deliver the current suite of venues, in their present format, then it will be faced with increasing costs of more than half a million pounds a year in an operating environment which has seen usage fall over recent years. Clearly this cannot continue as it does not provide good value for money for the council tax payer.

“The review has primarily focused on what options are available to the council to make these venues more financially sustainable.

“If the proposals are accepted by the executive, the significant local support for the Longfield Suite will need to be channelled into a positive drive to secure a more financially viable future. For the Radcliffe Civic Suite it is believed this venue can benefit from a fresh injection of private sector management and investment while retaining the right of access for community use.

“We are pleased that 1,381 members of the local community took the opportunity to make their views known as part of this consultation process. The Task and Finish Group also considered comments from letters to councillors, officers and the press, a petition from the Saveoursuite.com webpage (Longfield Suite) and a further petition received on behalf of the Radcliffe Civic Suite. Where feedback was received from public meetings, this was also fed into the consultation process.”