Agenda item

The Chair gave an update regarding the Committee’s consideration of the future of the Bourne CiCLE festival. At its meeting on 5 November 2019, the festival had been considered during the ‘overview of festivals’ item, alongside the Stamford Georgian festival. As a full report had not been submitted for the Committee to consider, it was decided that a round table discussion would be held separately to discuss the feasibility of the Bourne CiCLE festival moving forward. This discussion was held as a workshop on 25 November 2019 and was open for all interested Members to attend.

The Committee delegated authority to allow members of the Committee in attendance at the workshop to make a recommendation directly to Cabinet regarding the future of the festival. A recommendation was put to Cabinet supporting the CiCLE Festival being held in 2020, subject to stronger budgetary controls and greater community and business involvement. The Committee had therefore discharged its involvement and the item had been removed from the Work Programme.

The Cabinet Member for Culture and Visitor Economy was asked it she would like to respond to the earlier comments from members of the public regarding the festival. She informed the Committee that the governance process regarding the future of the festival had not yet been completed. It was explained that timescales may not allow for the festival to be held in 2020, but that there was a commitment to look after the district’s residents and tax payers.

A member of the Committee asked why the potential 2020 date for the festival had changed, noting that this had created a challenge in allowing sufficient time for the organisation of the event. The Corporate Operations Lead confirmed that he had attending a meeting with British Cycling along with the Head of Visitor Economy from InvestSK. A date in August had been unavailable due to other events in the cycling calendar and the preferred date to hold the festival had been in May.

Members asked for further clarification as to whether a decision had formally been made that the festival would not go ahead in 2020, and where this decision had taken place. The Interim Strategic Director, Growth noted the previous comments that the festival had been a valued event. He confirmed that a recommendation had been brought to Cabinet for their consideration and highlighted the challenges of the current economic climate, which called for difficult decisions to be made for the Council to achieve a balanced budget. He assured the Committee that the Council remained committed to supporting festivals where possible in the district and acknowledged the comments from members of the public that the residents of Bourne valued having an event held in their area. Members were informed that although time constraints would likely not allow for the event to be held in 2020, the event still held potential for the future.

The Chair referred to her earlier statement regarding the Committee’s recommendation to Cabinet with reference to the festival and requested a written statement in response to the recommendation.

Recommendation

·       Cabinet to provide the Culture and Visitor Economy Overview and Scrutiny Committee with a formal written response as to the status of the Bourne CiCLE Festival, and a response to their recommendation made to the December 2019 meeting of Cabinet: “To support the CiCLE Festival being held in 2020, subject to stronger budgetary controls and greater community and business involvement”.