agenda - Lyme Regis Town Council

John Wright
Town Clerk
Lyme Regis Town Council
Town Council Offices
Guildhall Cottage
Church Street
Lyme Regis
Dorset
DT73BS
email: [email protected]
Tel: 01297 445175
Fax: 01297 443773
Tourism & Economic Development Committee
Core Membership:
Cllr Mrs C. Reynolds (Chairman), Cllr Mrs M. Ellis (Vice-Chairman), Cllr R.
Doney, Cllr P. Hicks, Cllr S. Larcombe, Cllr O. Lovell, Cllr D. Turner, Cllr Ms A.
Williams
Notice is hereby given of a meeting of the Tourism & Economic Development Committee to be held
in the Guildhall, Bridge Street, Lyme Regis, on Wednesday 6 April 2016 commencing at 7pm when
the following business is proposed to be transacted:
John Wright
Town Clerk
31.03.16
The open proceedings of this meeting will be filmed and audio recorded and footage will be held for
one year by the town council. The cameras are focused on the area in the council chamber where
councillors and officers sit. However, they can also capture images of those who stand or sit in
some front parts of the public area.
A copy of the recordings will also be retained in accordance with the council’s information and data
policies.
If members of the public make a representation to the meeting, they will be deemed to have
consented to being filmed and audio recorded. By entering the body of the chamber, they are also
consenting to being filmed and audio recorded. If they do not wish to have their image captured,
they should sit in the public gallery area and avoid sitting or standing in the front row of seats.
If members of the public have any queries regarding filming or audio recording of meetings, please
contact the town clerk.
AGENDA
1.
Public Forum
Twenty minutes will be made available for public comment and response in relation to items
on this agenda
Individuals will be permitted a maximum of three minutes each to address the committee
2.
Apologies
To receive and record apologies and reasons for absence
3.
Minutes
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To confirm the accuracy of the minutes of the Tourism & Economic Development Committee
meeting held on 13 January 2016
4.
Disclosable Pecuniary Interests
Members are reminded that if they have a disclosable pecuniary interest on their register of
interests relating to any item on the agenda they are prevented from participating in any
discussion or voting on that matter at the meeting and to do so would amount to a criminal
offence. Similarly if you are or become aware of a disclosable pecuniary interest in a matter
under consideration at this meeting which is not on your register of interests or is in the
process of being added to your register you must disclose such interest at this meeting and
register it within 28 days._____________________________________________________
5.
Dispensations
To note the grant of dispensations made by the town clerk in relation to the business of this
meeting.
6.
Matters arising from minutes of the previous meeting held on 13 January 2016
There are no matters arising from the previous meeting on 13 January 2016
7.
Update Report
To update members on issues considered at previous meetings
8.
Residents’ Discount Card
To allow members to consider the requirements necessary to introduce a discount card for
residents
9.
Publicity and Promotion Team for Lyme Regis
To inform members about the first meeting of the Publicity and Promotion Team held on 9
March 2016, to receive the notes of that meeting, and to seek approval to the suggested
process for deciding the membership of the ‘core group’ of the team
10.
Exempt Business
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AGENDA ITEM 7
Committee: Tourism and Economic Development
Date: 6 April 2016
Title: Update Report
Purpose of the Report
To update members on issues considered at previous meetings
Recommendation
Members note the report
Report
Website
Work is on-going to improve the appearance and utility of the website.
Better support is now being provided to those businesses and organisations
either wanting to advertise on the website for the first time or amend/update
existing adverts (see website support update below).
Invoices have been issued to all current advertisers to renew their adverts
from 1 April 2016.
In addition, the events’ information is now up-to-date, comprehensive and
properly linked to the events screen at the Jubilee Pavilion and what’s on
posters.
Work will be undertaken shortly to update some of the photos and improve
their relevance to the location in which they are displayed.
Alison Bamforth, the council’s principal point of contact with NVG, our website
provider, has now left the company and NVG have been asked to provide
details of her replacement.
Jubilee Pavilion and Volunteers
The Jubilee Pavilion opened for the first time this year over the Easter period.
The intention is that it should remain open full-time until the end of
September, open weekends only for the first three weeks of October, and
revert to full-time opening during the October half-term week before closing
for the winter period.
The work of the volunteers who staff the pavilion is hugely appreciated and
their input is an important and integral part of the overall Lyme ‘offer’ to
visitors.
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AGENDA ITEM 7
The number of available volunteers has reduced and is insufficient to maintain
full-time cover. The rota currently includes times and days when no volunteer
cover is available.
Additional volunteers will be required if full-time cover is to be maintained over
the summer period. Any potential volunteers are encouraged to contact Lorna
Jenkin on 01297 443703 in the first instance. Training and support will be
offered to anyone volunteering for the first time.
Signage proposals
Lyme Regis Business Group has not been able to put together detailed
proposals in time for this meeting. It is hoped that a report will be available for
the next meeting of this committee.
Website support
The work undertaken for the council by Luke Lawson in respect of IT and web
support services is progressing well with, for instance, a greater level of
support now being offered to website advertisers and a comprehensive and
up-to-date listing of events in Lyme throughout the year.
The work which Luke undertakes for the council is in the process of being
better defined in a ‘contract’ document which will be agreed with Luke by the
end of April. There will be no financial implications for the council in this
process; only a more clearly defined and agreed scope of work.
Visitor survey
The chairman of this committee, working in conjunction with acting tourist
information centre manager has produced an initial draft of a simplified and
revised survey form to be completed by visitors to Lyme.
The intention is that this form helps to provide useful information and data to
support the work of the newly-established publicity and promotion team for
Lyme.
Promotion and distribution of the Lyme Regis guide 2016
The 2016 visitor guide for Lyme was printed and available for distribution in
early-December 2015.
The first guides were sent out on 9 December 2015 and, since that date,
approximately 10,000 guides have been requested by individual potential
visitors. This is a significant increase on the number requested by the same
time last year.
Lifestyle Media Group, the company which distributes the guides on the
council’s behalf, compiles comprehensive data about those requesting the
guide and this information, subject to any limitations of the Data Protection
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AGENDA ITEM 7
Act, will be available to help support the work of the newly-established
publicity and promotion team for Lyme.
Mark Green
Deputy town clerk
March 2016
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AGENDA ITEM 8
Committee: Tourism and Economic Development
Date: 6 April 2016
Title: Residents’ Discount Card
Purpose of Report
To allow members to consider the requirements necessary to introduce a discount
card for residents
Recommendation
a)
Members delegate authority to officers to find a suitable supplier to produce the
cards, within the agreed budget
b)
Members consider whether proof of residency is required to obtain a discount
card
c)
Members consider which geographical area the discount card will be available to
d)
Members consider whether there should be any age requirements, or any other
eligibility criteria, attached to the discount card
e)
Members agree to ask the Woodroffe School to produce designs for the discount
card branding, with the final decision being taken by the council
f)
Members agree a name for the card, which will be provided to the Woodroffe
School pupils to build their designs around
Background
1.
One of the council’s objectives for 2016/17 is to produce a card for local
residents to receive discounts and special offers from local businesses. The aim
is to reward residents and to boost businesses by encouraging more local
shopping.
2.
There is £5,000 available in the 2016/17 budget for this purpose.
Report
3.
Officers have been working with LymeForward co-ordinator Adrian Ragbourne to
develop this project.
4.
We have previously branded this as a ‘loyalty card’. However, we believe a
‘discount card’ or a ‘residents’ card’ is a more suitable phrase. Loyalty cards are
designed to offer benefits to customer to encourage them to continue to shop at
or use the services of businesses and local attractions. Loyalty schemes are not
a quick fix; the benefits are delivered over time and are usually part of a
structured marketing strategy. A discount card, however, can be used to
demonstrate the quality of a product or service. It gets customers through the
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AGENDA ITEM 8
door and if they have a good experience, they will feel encouraged to come back
and pay at full price. For businesses, it can be standalone and doesn’t have to be
linked to any data collection process.
5.
It is intended to produce a plastic card, in the same style as a credit card, to be
produced at the time of purchase. Several suppliers have been identified but
further tendering will be required. As a guide, we can expect to pay £419 for
1,000 cards, or £580 for 2,000 cards.
6.
Smartphone apps are available; however, these are expensive and will require
much more work and development. If the plastic card proves successful, this
may be something the council could consider in the future.
7.
There are challenges of course, including getting local businesses to sign up to
the scheme, and competition with other loyalty schemes that are already
operated by businesses in Lyme Regis, i.e. Boots, Costa.
The application process
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8.
Currently, any resident scheme the council offers, i.e. free car parking, priority
beach hut booking, requires the resident to produce their council tax bill as proof
of residency. This was originally introduced to make these benefits available to
only full-time residents of Lyme Regis, as second-home owners did not pay the
full rate. However, second home-owners now pay full council tax on their
properties. As such, members are asked to consider whether there is any point in
asking residents to produce their council tax bill to obtain a discount card.
9.
We have found several other councils who offer discount cards. They ask
residents to fill in an application form with their basic details, including their
address, but do not require proof of residency.
Who is entitled to a card?
10. There is also the question of which geographical area this discount card would
apply to. There have been suggestions to include Uplyme and Charmouth in the
scheme. This would mean not only residents in those areas having the benefit of
the special offers, but also mean businesses in those areas would be included in
the scheme. Uplyme Parish Council has expressed its desire to work more
closely with this council in the future, and this could be seen as a gesture of
goodwill from Lyme Regis Town Council.
11. Members are also asked to consider if an age restriction should be placed on the
card. Is this a scheme for people over a certain age? There is an argument that
we should not exclude young people from the scheme, but where would we draw
the line? One example is Gloucester City Council, where card-holders must be
aged 12 and over, but proof of parental consent is required for ages 16 and
under. Another example is Canterbury City Council, where there is no minimum
age, but card-holders must have the consent of a parent or guardian if under the
age of 18. Putting age restrictions on the card would be difficult to administer, but
there is also the risk of cardholders manipulating the scheme to get the best out
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AGENDA ITEM 8
of the special offers, i.e. registering a very young baby and allowing another adult
to use the card.
How the scheme will work
12. Local businesses will need to register as a participant. Each business will decide
what discount it will offer, depending on factors such as the type of business and
what the business can afford.
13. Participating businesses and their special offers will be listed on the town council
website. They will also have a window sticker to display in their premises. Offers
could also be publicised in the local press.
14. There is scope for businesses to be able to regularly change their offers
according to situational changes, such as major events, public holidays, the time
of year, and end-of-season sales. At the moment, it is intended to launch the
scheme in its basic form, with each business having one special offer. Once the
scheme is established and enough local businesses are registered, we could
look to develop the scheme to this next phase.
What the scheme will look like
15. It is important to give the scheme a defined ‘brand’, with a name, logo, colour
scheme, and tagline. This brand would be used on the website, on the window
stickers, posters, in any advertising literature, and of course on the card itself. It
is intended to ask pupils at Woodroffe School to create the brand, with the final
design being chosen by the council. This could be a useful coursework project
for the students.
16. The card also needs a name, and one suggestion is the DT7 card. However, this
would depend on whether the card is extended to Uplyme and/or Charmouth.
Members are therefore asked to make their own suggestions.
17. The council’s intention to introduce this scheme has been communicated to the
business group, but further consultation will be needed to establish the level of
interest in the scheme, how it will work, and how we can encourage businesses
to sign up. It is intended to hold a launch event for businesses, when we would
aim to get them registered in the scheme, before we make the card available to
residents. Further details will be brought to a future meeting of this committee’s
successor, the Tourism, Community and Publicity Committee.
18. Any recommendations from this committee will be considered by the Full Council
on 4 May 2016.
Adrianne Mullins
Admin officer
March 2016
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AGENDA ITEM 9
Committee: Tourism and Economic Development
Date: 6 April 2016
Title: Publicity and Promotion Team for Lyme Regis
Purpose of Report
To inform members about the first meeting of the Publicity and Promotion Team held
on 9 March 2016, to receive the notes of that meeting, and to seek approval to the
suggested process for deciding the membership of the ‘core group’ of the team
Recommendation
Members note the report, receive the notes of the first meeting of the Publicity and
Promotion Team for Lyme Regis held on 9 March and approve the suggested
process for selecting the membership of the ‘core group’ of the team
Background
1.
As part of the consideration of its corporate objectives for future years, Full
Council supported the principle of establishing a new team to consider how Lyme
Regis could best be promoted to potential visitors in future.
2.
Full Council also set aside a budget of £2,000 for each of the next three years to
support the work of any team. This budget is in addition to the roughly
£50,000p.a. currently spent on supporting both the tourism website and the
production of the annual tourism brochure.
3.
The newly-established Coastal Communities Team for Lyme Regis, Uplyme and
Charmouth has also produced a draft economic plan for the area which clearly
identifies the effective promotion of the area as a key priority.
4.
The council’s tourism website and brochure have been the principal focus for the
marketing and promotion of the town for some years and both have been
substantially updated and improved over the last 12 months.
5.
The time and resource spent proactively promoting the town in the regional and
national press has been very limited to date and relatively little is currently done
to link with the work of other more strategic agencies such as Visit Dorset and
Visit South West. It was felt that any new team could look at these and other
relevant issues.
6.
It was agreed that the detailed terms of reference of any team for the town
should be for the new team to determine, as should the detailed membership of
the team. It was, however, suggested that membership should be drawn from
those organisations or individuals with a particular interest or expertise in how
best and most effectively to publicise and promote the town.
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AGENDA ITEM 9
Report
7.
A public meeting was held on the evening of 9 March 2016 to which all those
interested in the publicity and promotion of Lyme were invited.
8.
The meeting was well attended and there was a lively debate about relevant
issues and how best to proceed going forwards.
9.
The notes of that meeting are attached as appendix 9A.
10. All those attending were asked to provide their contact details and to indicate
their willingness to help support the work of the team.
11. It was agreed that there should be a ‘core group’ of more limited numbers and a
wider group to which the ‘core group’ should report for feedback and support.
12. It was suggested that all those interested in being involved with the work of the
team should submit their ideas in writing, together with a brief statement as to
why they were interested in being a member of the team and the relevant skills
or expertise they would bring to the ‘core group’, if selected.
13. It was further agreed that any selection of the ‘core group’ membership should be
undertaken by the chairman and vice-chairman of this committee in conjunction
with the deputy town clerk.
14. Members are asked to receive the minutes of the meeting held on 9 March
March and support the general process for selecting the membership of any
‘core group’.
15. Any recommendations from this committee will be considered by the Full Council
on 4 May 2016.
Mark Green
Deputy town clerk
March 2016
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APPENDIX 9A
Lyme Regis Promotion Group
Held on 9 March 2016 in the Langmoor Room
Present: Cllr Cheryl Reynolds (Tourism and Economic Development
Committee chairman), Adrianne Mullins (administrative officer, Lyme Regis
Town Council), Mark Green (deputy town clerk, Lyme Regis Town Council),
Cllr Brian Larcombe (Lyme Regis Town Council), Cllr John Broom (Lyme
Regis Town Council), Cllr Richard Doney (Lyme Regis Town Council), Cllr
Daryl Turner (Lyme Regis Town Council, West Dorset District Council and
Dorset County Council), Lyn Martin (Dorset House and Lyme Regis Business
Group), Barrie Fortnam (The Lyme Regis School of English Language), Chris
Boothroyd, Julian Fernandez, Jeremy Hayes (Lyme Folk Weekend), Adrian
Ragbourne (LymeForward), Julie Sheppard (Lyme Regis Jazz and Blues
Festival), David Campbell (Lyme Folk Weekend), Judi Allen (Lyme Folk
Weekend), Trudi Robson (Lyme Regis Tourist Information Centre), Geoff
Baker, Matt Puddy, Jill Newton, Geoff Manley
Cllr Reynolds (CR) welcomed attendees and outlined her objectives for this
group, with a simple but effective approach. She said it was aimed to
establish a core group of people to meet regularly, but to call on others
involved in this project when necessary.
Mark Green (MG) said the promotion of Lyme Regis was a council priority,
with a budget of £2,000 made available. This was in addition to the tens of
thousands of pounds already spent on tourism each year, including the
brochure and website, and the commitment to develop the seafront gardens
and install showers on the beach; a considerable contribution for a town
council with a relatively small resident population. With local government
budget cuts in mind, MG said the town needed to promote itself. The aim was
not to produce huge amounts of paperwork or another strategy.
Cllr Larcombe (BL) said the quality of the stay was more important than the
quantity of stay as Lyme Regis has limited capacity.
Lyn Martin (LM) wanted a better understanding of what the brand or tourism
strategy was. She said it would be difficult to determine what the group was
trying to do without a plan.
MG said several plans were already published for the area, including the
Dorset Destination Management Plan, which said Dorset was the ninth most
visited county in England, with the area being built on the Jurassic Coast
brand. People who search electronically for holidays in Dorset rarely search
by location; the most frequent searches were for Dorset or Jurassic Coast.
Geoff Baker (GB) said on the Visit Dorset website, the front page had six
categories of ‘not to be missed’ and Lyme Regis didn’t feature. There were
also 24 featured links on the home page, none of which were about Lyme
Regis. GB said the council could make more use of Adrianne Mullins (AM) for
publicity and for promoting news and events. He said many events that
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APPENDIX 9A
happen in Lyme are not newsworthy, so perhaps it was a case of creating
events and news items that would spread further afield. Other than the local
newspaper, Lyme Regis did not appear on a search of Google news until the
101st listing. Other suggestions included a food guide to Lyme Regis, a guide
to rainy day activities, a Pirates Week, a crazy golf championship, and
something to combat negative impressions portrayed in the press, such as
poor water quality. He also said Lyme Regis TV could be re-launched to
promote Lyme through short videos. He also suggested moving footage on
lymeregis.org, which would attract storm-watchers.
AM suggested those videos could be broadcast on a YouTube channel.
BL said the town needed to make the most of what it has; not just sand and
beaches, but to also ensure promotional material is accurate. He said the
appeal of the French Lieutenant’s Woman had expired and the town needed
to re-define itself.
Julian Fernandez (JF) said more needed to be done to attract people to Lyme
Regis in the winter.
CR suggested holiday packages for walking or photography groups.
Julie Sheppard (JS) said she had attended a Blues Festival in Swanage,
which was held in March and October each year, as a result of the promoter
asking local businesses when they needed more customers. She said venues
pay for the bands, entry is free for punters, and the pubs make their money
back through income from food and drink.
Adrian Ragbourne (AR) said he believed a plan was required. He said 50% of
the town’s income was tourism, which could be increased if visitors were
attracted in off-peak times.
LM said the town should maximise the reputation it is gaining for food, as well
as targeting walkers, people on courses and couples.
Trudi Robson (TR) said fossil hunters visit at any time of the year. In the off­
season, particularly June and October, there were high numbers of overseas
visitors.
AM suggested press trips, with special packages created for short stays in
Lyme for journalists on national newspapers and travel magazines.
GB agreed with running press trips, targeting certain journalists and creating
specific packages, such as summer, history, walking, Christmas, and to
arrange them early to meet copy deadlines.
JF suggested period events and costume weekends.
CR asked if everyone could write down their priority suggestions and indicate
how actively involved they would like to be in the group.
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APPENDIX 9A
Chris Boothroyd (CB) said it was important for the group to decide its priority;
summer season or out-of-season, and to focus on that priority. He also said
there used to be team of people writing news stories for lymeregis.org and
stressed the importance of word-of-mouth on the internet.
Barry Fortnam (BF) said in the winter he had hosted Italian visitors who loved
Lyme Regis at that time of year and were keen on taking photographs.
MG suggested introducing quirky events that don’t happen elsewhere. It was
suggested to bring back conger cuddling.
JS said the town needed to make more of its maritime traditions.
BL suggested events involving the Jane Austen and Mary Anning
connections. GB agreed and said John Fowles and Jane Austen were big
attractions in America.
GB said many years ago an event called the Cobb Ale was held in the town;
he suggesting re-instating a fayre on the Cobb.
Cllr Richard Doney (RD) said the questions he would ask himself were: what
did the group want to achieve in doing this promotion work; does the group
want new sorts of business opening; who is the group trying to attract to Lyme
Regis; what is it about Lyme Regis that can be exploited to bring in more
visitors; what is it that Lyme Regis hasn’t got that would attract certain people
at a certain time? He said people might be encouraged to join in if it was clear
what the group was doing.
MG said the council didn’t see this meeting as a one-off. He asked everyone
to contribute their ideas and priorities, with the aim of setting up a small group
of people the council could work with, meeting perhaps monthly at first and
then quarterly. It was intended to have a larger group of people who can be a
sounding board for ideas. He also requested everyone to indicate their
willingness to participate, how best they could contribute, and the level of
commitment they could give.
Cllr Owen Lovell (OL) asked if the concerns over Lyme’s lack of presence on
the Visit Dorset website could be followed up.
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