Agenda item

This report provides Members with a progress update on the Shambles Market refurbishment.

The Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Tourism attended the meeting in order to present an update on the Shambles Market and the Tour de France.

Shambles Market

Questions, comments and requests from Members to the Cabinet Member included;

·        Whether moving the Farmers Market from Parliament Street into the Shambles Market would see an increase in profit or not.

·        Would special events still take place in Parliament Street?

·        Had consultation taken place with stallholders, had it been recorded, and where was it recorded?

·        More financial information on the income and outcomes for the Parliament and Shambles Markets.

In response the Cabinet Member stated moving the Farmers Market from Parliament Street and merging the Shambles Market would allow for the empty stalls there to be used. She felt confident that it would work and it would also free up space in Parliament Street for use by other events. Officers stated that specialist markets did not make a large amount of money and that the refurbishment measures would increase the occupancy rate of the Shambles Market.

The Cabinet Member informed Members that there would still be Christmas Festivals taking place within the city centre but responsibility for this would no longer be in the hands of the Council, but Make it York.                                       

Consultation had taken place with traders and had been recorded in Cabinet papers. It was noted that the architects involved had also carried out their own consultation. Officers offered to provide a summary of this if Members wished.

The Director of Communities and Neighbourhoods informed the Committee about how the finances for the markets would be monitored through the Make it York Business Plan. Members were told that outcome data would be shared with the Committee but that if they wished to receive financial data that then they could request this.

Tour de France

The Director of Communities and Neighbourhoods informed the Committee that there had been 8.3 million visitors to York over the weekend of the Grand Départ during which 200,000 watched it in York and 92% of residents felt that its presence had been a good thing.

Some Members were concerned that the economic deficits had not been examined, such as the effect that the race had on city traders whilst the stage took place.

In response, Members were told that although there had been a drop in visitors at the National Railway Museum during the stage, numbers in the build up to the race rose and visitor numbers from abroad also increased.

Discussion took place around what had gone well and what had not gone well in regards to the Tour’s visit to the city. It was felt that the stewarding and community engagement worked well. In the latter case this had been funded by local traders not by the Council.

In contrast, the Grand Départy and the camping had not gone well. The Director admitted that the decision to run the Grand Départy was made too late and suffered from bad marketing and bad weather.

It was reported that the costs for holding the Tour de Yorkshire had decreased from £750,000 to £250,000 as Officers now knew what the infrastructure costs would be (such as how many stewards would be needed).

The Chair questioned the comparable costs for Leeds and for York hosting a stage of the Tour de Yorkshire and requested further financial information from Officers in respect of this.

The Committee thanked Council staff for their hard work during the Grand Départ, they also thanked the Cabinet Member for her attendance at the meeting.

Resolved: That the Cabinet Member be thanked for their report and attendance.

Reason:   So that the Committee are kept updated of the Cabinet Member’s priorities.