Minutes:
The following question was received from Mr Kenwood
BOP Consulting in their final report on the future of Clair Hall make reference to the fact that Haywards Heath has cultural provision typical for a town of its size. Could council please state what the cultural provisions and facilities referred to were in their comparisons and also what were the towns that Haywards Heath was compared with in order to reach that conclusion.
The following response was provided by the Leader:
Thank you. You will be aware that BOP is a nationally and internationally recognised research and consulting practice for culture and the creative economy. Their two reports are based on their extensive experience working with cities and towns across the country. The comparison is based on their standard approach to mapping the culture and creative sector. They detailed the methodology used, including the indicators they looked at when mapping the cultural landscape in the area, in their interim report published in July. The mapping exercise outcomes are detailed in the table on page 12 in the interim report, in Section 4 The Cultural Landscape of Haywards Heath. Appendix B provides details on the mapping indicators and their definitions.
Mr Kenward’s supplementary question sought to clarify the second part of his original question: what were the towns that Haywards Heath was compared with? In response, the Leader directed Mr Kenward to the sections of the report mentioned above which sets out the mapping and methodology used by BOP.
The following question was received from Ms Wilcock
The BOP report?“Lead Specialist Advisor Clair Hall: Final Report” recently released by the Council,? based its advice on potential sector target audiences by reference to a Council report now 6 years out of date, which does not take into account recent extensive housing developments.? ?
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Empirical evidence from the Haywards Heath Arts Festival shows in particular there is a strong?demand and support for arts and cultural activities by young people,? with events being sold out with standing room only.?
What action is the Council taking to accurately ascertain the current demographics of Haywards Heath before taking any further action.
The following response was provided by the Leader:
Thank you for your question. It is pleasing to hear of the success of the Haywards Heath Arts Festival and that you found suitable venues for the events.
BOP based their advice on numerous information sources. This included 2021 census results which were partially released this summer. In their report they observed that new Census data suggest the demographic changes across Mid Sussex District as a whole support the trends estimated in the report you referred to.
I welcome your comments, based on your recent empirical experience. BOP’s work recognises the strength of our local audience and accounted for that in their final report and recommendations (which will be considered by Cabinet next week) . This is certainly something we will promote and want to build on going forward. Equally, BOP advise us that it is a very challenging economic climate to deliver culturally focused projects. Therefore, the Council is taking this robust, evidence-based approach to this project. We believe this gives us the best chance to take this work forward and be successful in securing a cultural anchor tenant for the site.
Mrs Wilcock posed a supplementary question asking, ‘does that mean you are not going to have any review of the audience sectors referred to in the BOP report, which may be inaccurate?’ In response the Leader noted that he had already answered the question in relation to BOP using the most up to date evidence in their report, including the 2021 census data.