Market Hall Refurbishment

[Ken Moss]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

Working that extra day also costs money(staff, electricity, time etc)....money that doesn't seem to be finding its way to the traders....so it is an uneconomic proposal. Now if, let us say, the council were to slash the stall rents for the proposed length of time of the trial.....just so that the footfall could be measured, and the economic possibility could be more accurately determined....then perhaps, just perhaps the benefits(or not) could be proved and the stall holders would be more amenable.

Failing that, what is wrong with opening the market hall so that the cafes and the upstairs units can operate, along with any stall holders who feel they can afford to trade?

HBC needto keep the Market Hall stall holders on their side, otherwise the money that they have paid out in refurbishments will go down the pan.

Margaret, you're talking sense again, cut it out please. This is the Britcliffe Administration.

Following my meeting with Marlene Haworth, I found out yesterday that my name is on a letter to the market traders which is so cleverly worded as to imply that both myself and Cllr Clare Pritchard AGREE with the six day trial period!!!

In actual fact, we're resigned to the fact that this little scheme is going to be rammed through with little regard to the practicalities or cost implications and are simply trying to make the best of a bad situation for the traders.

Rest assured, if I ever get anywhere near the driving seat the situation up there at the Market Hall will change drastically.

[Ken Moss]

Originally Posted by accysimon

Peter Britcliffe's comments in a local paper recently, where he claims he was worth every penny he received, just shows what an egotistical, arrogant, overrated, megalomaniac he really is...I'm still waiting for a reply to a letter I sent him 6 weeks ago !!!

Don't hold your breath, Simon.

The Civic Theatre in Ossy was due to be officially opened by the Mayor on 4th September. Britcliffe asked if Malcolm would step down in favour of him opening it instead and when he refused he simply cancelled the opening.

I'm sure there will be a legitimate reason for it but I'm willing to bet a substantial amount that Malcolm Pritchard won't be invited to the revised opening day.

Of all the great wonders in the universe, there is nothing so supermassive as Peter Britcliffe's ego.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

Margaret, you're talking sense again, cut it out please. This is the Britcliffe Administration.

Following my meeting with Marlene Haworth, I found out yesterday that my name is on a letter to the market traders which is so cleverly worded as to imply that both myself and Cllr Clare Pritchard AGREE with the six day trial period!!!

In actual fact, we're resigned to the fact that this little scheme is going to be rammed through with little regard to the practicalities or cost implications and are simply trying to make the best of a bad situation for the traders.

Rest assured, if I ever get anywhere near the driving seat the situation up there at the Market Hall will change drastically.

How very democratic....ramming a situation through will not make it work, and may put the viability of the market hall in jeopardy.

Ken I sincerely hope you do get a chance to alter things.......after all a change(in the right direction) is as good as a rest.

[Ken Moss]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

How very democratic....ramming a situation through will not make it work, and may put the viability of the market hall in jeopardy.

Ken I sincerely hope you do get a chance to alter things.......after all a change(in the right direction) is as good as a rest.

Over the past two weeks I've been putting together a proposal which will completely alter the way the Market Hall is run. Financially, it's a bloody mess but there is absolutely no reason why it needs to be.

Greed and egoism are ruining it and if it fails then only the traders and shoppers lose out, the councillors will be safe.

What a relief.

[Margaret Pilkington]

My theory is that PB goes round with a smug smile on his face because he always has in mind a culprit he can blame when the doo doo hits the fan.

I am intensely distrustful of him.

[Ken Moss]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

My theory is that PB goes round with a smug smile on his face because he always has in mind a culprit he can blame when the doo doo hits the fan.

I am intensely distrustful of him.

Oh, that's a no-brainer. Everything that goes wrong is the fault of Graham Jones. That's been the stock response for several years now, even when he opens the fridge and the milk has gone off.

Just remember next May that a vote for the Conservatives is automatically a vote for Peter Britcliffe to remain as council leader. I say that with genuine regret as there are some Tory councillors who do a good job but it's the only way that we can get rid of him.

[Gayle]

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

The Civic Theatre in Ossy was due to be officially opened by the Mayor on 4th September. Britcliffe asked if Malcolm would step down in favour of him opening it instead and when he refused he simply cancelled the opening.

Please get your facts right before dragging the Civic Arts Centre into this.

For a start it was not the Civic Theatre that was due to be officially launched, it was the newly refurbished Civic Arts Centre.

The original date was the 12th not the 4th and the official launch event has been postponed - not cancelled.

The Centre is very much Open and there was an Open Day on the 22nd August. The Centre is up and running and very much open, please don't go round saying that the opening has cancelled as that implies that we're not operational and we are.

The official launch event was POSTPONED because there are three big projects happening in the run up to the event (two already happened) and the third next week. The Board and I decided that we didn't have time to do the Official Launch Event the justice it deserved so have bought our selves more time. Plus, some of the board were unable to attend the date of the 12th, so the Board of the Arts Centre made the decision to POSTPONE the event.

Peter Britcliffe will undoubtedly be a huge part of the rearranged Official Launch event (and was always intended to be) as it was he that has championed this project from day one and it's in his ward. Don't forget, the Labour Party opposed this project and voted against the capital expenditure.

[Ken Moss]

Originally Posted by Gayle

Please get your facts right before dragging the Civic Arts Centre into this.

For a start it was not the Civic Theatre that was due to be officially launched, it was the newly refurbished Civic Arts Centre.

The original date was the 12th not the 4th and the official launch event has been postponed - not cancelled.

The Centre is very much Open and there was an Open Day on the 22nd August. The Centre is up and running and very much open, please don't go round saying that the opening has cancelled as that implies that we're not operational and we are.

The official launch event was POSTPONED because there are three big projects happening in the run up to the event (two already happened) and the third next week. The Board and I decided that we didn't have time to do the Official Launch Event the justice it deserved so have bought our selves more time. Plus, some of the board were unable to attend the date of the 12th, so the Board of the Arts Centre made the decision to POSTPONE the event.

Peter Britcliffe will undoubtedly be a huge part of the rearranged Official Launch event (and was always intended to be) as it was he that has championed this project from day one and it's in his ward. Don't forget, the Labour Party opposed this project and voted against the capital expenditure.

I'm always willing to be corrected, Gayle. Thank you for putting me straight.

However, it still doesn't get away from the fact that the Mayor's invite has been withdrawn so that Peter Britcliffe can open the event. Malcolm Pritchard wanted to open it, something which would be part of the duties of any Mayor.

Peter's grubby politics regarding mayorality this year are not only tarnishing the respectability of the position but also events that are linked to it and the opening of the Civic Theatre is one of them.

I'm told that a visit to the theatre on Thursday (which regrettably I had to pull out of) showed the building off as an impressive piece of work but the project had no performance standards in place , something which is a basic scientific principle on any experiment.

Whatever your side of the fence, we're talking about several hundred thousand pounds of public money and I would expect that anything on that scale to have a measure of whether it was gauged as a success or failure. It doesn't and on that point I am not best pleased.

Peter wants the Civic Theatre to be one of several monuments to his time as Leader of the Council and however good your relationship with him may be I'm afraid I cannot condone anyone who uses public money to inflate his own ego without proper regard to the consequences.

[katex]

As I am a member of the board as a Trustee, Ken, I am bemused that you appear to know more than myself about who is on the invite list for the Formal Opening of The Civil Arts Centre.

As Gayle has mentioned, this event has merely been postponed due to other commitments, and there is no change, as yet, to whom we would like to invite to formally cut the ribbon. Cllr Britcliffe has been heavily involved in this project from start to finish so, no doubt, will be playing a large part in the ceremony.

It is a shame that you did not appear at the Open Day last Saturday to get an inside view of projects already booked. The centre is not just for the people of Ossy, but for the whole of Hyndburn, and would have been good if you could have returned to your constituents in Rishton to inform them of this new facility and interestings projects for them at a minimal cost.

Please take another look at your crystal bowl so that I can inform the other members of the board what to expect will be our decision.

www.civilartscentre.co.uk

Ok .. thread wander .. but you started it... LOL.

[Ken Moss]

Originally Posted by katex

As I am a member of the board as a Trustee, Ken, I am bemused that you appear to know more than myself about who is on the invite list for the Formal Opening of The Civil Arts Centre.

As Gayle has mentioned, this event has merely been postponed due to other commitments, and there is no change, as yet, to whom we would like to invite to formally cut the ribbon. Cllr Britcliffe has been heavily involved in this project from start to finish so, no doubt, will be playing a large part in the ceremony.

It is a shame that you did not appear at the Open Day last Saturday to get an inside view of projects already booked. The centre is not just for the people of Ossy, but for the whole of Hyndburn, and would have been good if you could have returned to your constituents in Rishton to inform them of this new facility and interestings projects for them at a minimal cost.

Please take another look at your crystal bowl so that I can inform the other members of the board what to expect will be our decision.

www.civilartscentre.co.uk

Ok .. thread wander .. but you started it... LOL.

I've been accused of worse things, Kate....

I have nothing against the Civic Theatre itself and can see the wider good intentions for it but it is becoming little more than a trophy for Peter Britcliffe which is demeaning the whole thing. There is an uncomfortable amount of sloppy accounting involved with the actual allocation of funds and we're talking about a lot of money, sums of which I'm sure you're already fully aware of.

Peter's jiggery-pokery with the eventual invitations is well known within the corridors of HBC as it is going on with a couple of other things as well. As I've said before, in the run up to next May expect to see Peter Britcliffe's name on as many brass plaques as are due to be unveiled in Hyndburn, not Malcolm Pritchard's.

Gayle's mention of Labour's stance on capital expenditure implies that I'm entrenched in a Conservative/Labour argument here, which I'm not. What annoys me is that one man is pulling the purse strings of an entire borough just to satisfy his own ego and get his name associated with as many things as possible.

Hyndburn is suffering as a borough because of what is being dictated by that man to the masses.

[katex]

I neither love nor hate Cllr Britcliffe, Ken, and have not had many dealings with him as I live in Clayton, however, I can see that as regards the Arts Centre he has worked tirelessly to give Gayle the support that was needed to bring this project to fruition. Whether if for his own self-ego, yes, maybe .... but does not negate the fact that it was put to good use.

I have not seen any sloppy accounting as yet ... everything has been accounted for and spent very carefully to get the best out of the funds that were available.

The ongoing operating accounts of income/expenditure are now in the process of being set up with the utmost professionalism.

[Ken Moss]

Like I said, don't think that I'm in any way against the theatre simply because it isn't a Labour project or anything so superficial. I genuinely hope that it proves a long-term success in just the same way that I want the Market Hall to work but the way money is being organised at Scaitcliffe House to pay for such things is truly shocking.

If I had control of the purse strings then neither project would be threatened but there would be far more long-term planning and budgetary reviews than simply standing up and saying 'I've spent £1m on this, aren't I wonderful?'

The Market Hall is a very good case in point. It looks superb for the most part but the actual administration of it is utterly shambolic and I'm trying to find out just how much money is being wasted on it each month by having a layer of management that we simply don't need.

The market traders are the heart and soul of it so drive them away and what have we got left?

[Ken Moss]

Originally Posted by katex

I have not seen any sloppy accounting as yet ... everything has been accounted for and spent very carefully to get the best out of the funds that were available.

The ongoing operating accounts of income/expenditure are now in the process of being set up with the utmost professionalism.

Again, this implies that I was having a go at the way the theatre itself is being run, a misunderstanding for which I apologise.

I have heard very positive things about Gayle Knight and it seems that the project is now in safe hands but the original allocation of money from council funding was done without any sort of in-depth research and the performance standards that I'm looking for were never in place.

The blame for that lies with the council administration, not the theatre.

[katex]

I think you are maybe getting a little confused here, Ken. There has now been some funds allocated for refurbishment of 'The Theatre', which is entirely different to the Arts Centre. It is in its infancy as yet, and groups that use 'The Theatre' are being asked what they consider is the best way to use this money... e.g. new lighting, new sound system, new seating,etc. So, lots of studies still being don on how to spend this money.

Have you ever visited our Civil Theatre ? Please do, is the only one we have in Hyndburn.

Good luck, however, with your efforts to help the Market Traders ... to bring it back on thread.

[Ken Moss]

Originally Posted by katex

I think you are maybe getting a little confused here, Ken. There has now been some funds allocated for refurbishment of 'The Theatre', which is entirely different to the Arts Centre. It is in its infancy as yet, and groups that use 'The Theatre' are being asked what they consider is the best way to use this money... e.g. new lighting, new sound system, new seating,etc. So, lots of studies still being don on how to spend this money.

Have you ever visited our Civil Theatre ? Please do, is the only one we have in Hyndburn.

Good luck, however, with your efforts to help the Market Traders ... to bring it back on thread.

My replies haven't been very clear, it does sound like I'm a bit confused!

If the Theatre and the Arts Centre have been done up to the same sort of standards as the Market Hall (barring the doorsteps...) then I'm sure they look superb. I will get around to visiting one day soon because, as you say, they are for all of Hyndburn and not just Oswaldtwistle.

The projects that Cllr Britcliffe decides get funding and how he goes about doing it are not so even-handed, I'm afraid. The Market Hall has gone way over budget and is still not completed, plus money is haemorrhaging to a consultancy firm.

I would implore any council to instigate performance targets prior to spending on any project within the borough. This is not the case and smacks of hoping something works rather than planning to succeed.

I'm simply concerned about how taxpayers' money is spent.