Lib Dems call for ‘Grand Départy’ Inquiry as minutes of safety committee raise further concerns

Liberal Democrat councillors are calling for an inquiry into the ‘Grand Departy’ music concert as part of a cross-party scrutiny review.

Meanwhile the minutes of two meetings of the Councils Safety Advisory Group have confirmed that there was internal concern about the organisational arrangements for the concert.

Safety committee meeting July 2014 Click to read original minutes

The minutes suggest that, had the target audience numbers actually attended, then safety concerns could have been high.

The minutes of the meetings can be read by clicking the links below.

Safety Advisory Committee 30^th June 2014 (pre concert)

Safety Advisory Group 23^rd July 2014 (post concert)

Cllr Ian Cuthbertson, Lib Dem Spokesperson for Leisure, Culture and Tourism, has submitted an official request for a scrutiny review into the “planning, promotion and delivery” of council organised events for the Tour De France.

Last week it was revealed that City of York Council overspent its budget for the Tour by £60,000 with the ‘Events and Festivals’ programme losing taxpayers £252,000.

The poorly received ‘Grand Departy’ music concert at Huntington Stadium was the single biggest loss. The event cost £206,000 to stage but disappointing ticket sales meant only £19,000 in revenue was brought in, producing an overall loss of £187,000.

Cllr Cuthbertsoncommented:

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York party bill could cost taxpayers over £100,000

Sparse crowd for Grand Departy

The York Council is resisting attempts to discover the true cost of the Tour de France party (“Departy”) that it held at the Huntington Stadium.

It has invoked a littler known clause in the Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation which allows it to withhold information if a report on the issue is due to be considered by a Council committee.

It invoked the same legislation a couple of years ago to delay the publication of bus service reliability statistics in the City (although the subsequently report, when it did appear 6 months later, actually gave very little new information on the issue).

The Council has, however, confirmed that the budget for the event was a whopping £220,000 and that they hoped to generate income of £260,000.

It appears that the income figures were based on selling around 10,000 tickets at a face value of £25.

The Council have refused to say how much income was generated for ticket sales although this figure must be known by now. The responsible Councillor (Crisp) also refused to answer questions posed at the last Council meeting about the event.

In the end only a thousand or so spectators turned up, hence the concern that taxpayers will have a large bill to pick up.

There was no public discussion of the advisability of holding such an event or of the risks that taxpayers might face.

If the promised report is not published on 1^st September then the matter can be referred to the Information Commissioner. The Commissioner has been ruling against the York Council on an increasing number of occasions during the last couple of years and some enforcement action may now be in prospect.

Interestingly there is no entry on the Councils forward plan covering a review of the Departy or indeed any other aspect of the Tour de France programme

NB. A FOI request about library services in York was recently refused on the grounds that the service is now run by an independent company. Other services like the Museums Trust have also been taken out of the reach of FOI requests over the years with several other partnership bodies in a grey area.

We believe that any body which relies for a significant part of its income from the York Council taxpayer, should voluntarily apply FOI protocols to the information that it holds.

Huntington Stadium “Grand Departy” costs to be questioned at Council meeting

Sparse crowd for Grand Departy

Cllr Crisp faces a grilling at the next Council meeting about her decision to add the “Grand Departy” event to the Tour de France programme.

The event was poorly supported by York residents with only around 1000 of the 10,000 tickets sold.

The event was dogged by inadequate planning with a License application only granted at the last minute.

Now LibDem Councillor Ian Cuthbertson has tabled a question for the next Council meeting (17^th July) in the following terms.

“Regarding the “Grand Departy” held at Huntington Stadium on 4th July, how much was spent on this event (broken down by artist fees, charity contributions, equipment hire, stadium costs, traffic management, staffing costs, hospitality etc), how much income was derived (broken down by ticket sales, sponsorship etc), and who took the decision – and when – to add this event to the Tour de France calendar?”

Some leaks from West Offices are putting losses on the event as high as £100,000.

If the figure is correct, then it is likely to lead to calls for the Cabinet member to resign.

Tax Departy

Sparse crowd for Grand Departy

Around 1000 spectators turned up for last nights concert at the Huntington Stadium.

The event was hit by wet weather early in the evening.

However ticket sales had been disappointing for the “10,000” capacity event and there are now concerns about who will pick up the bill for, what is sure to be a 5 figure financial shortfall on, income.

The event had been described as a planning “afterthought” with the Council unable to allocate enough resources to its organisation.

The event was never discussed publicly through the Councils decision making structures.

The responsible Cabinet member (Cllr Crisp) has yet to issue a statement on what many people are labelling as a flop.

Meanwhile media reports have revealed that many who bought “seated” tickets for the event were forced to stand in the rain.

Fairness Conference costs questioned as Huntington concert struggles

Sources with the York Council are saying that the costs – to Council taxpayers – of the recent Fairness Conference could be as much as £10,000. Apparently a similar level of funding has come from a local charity.

If confirmed, the figure will be similar to the amount being cut from the budgets of two York Council community centres both of which serve low income neighbourhoods.

The Foxwood Community Centre in particular is now struggling to find volunteers to continue to run the facility in the wake of the Council cuts.

One major user is moving to other accommodation claiming that the lack of commitment by the Council, to the future of community facilities ,was a factor in their decision.

An attempt is to be made to form a new management committee in September by which time it is hoped a new core tenant will have been found.

NB. As reported earlier in the week, the Councils Grand Départy Concert on 4 July has run into financial difficulties.

Likely to cost a six figure sum to stage, only a few hundred tickets have been sold so far.

A new act has, however, been added to the lineup for the concert

Desperate Council halves Huntington Stadium concert ticket prices

Council concert organiser displays sense of humour

As we revealed yesterday, the Tour de France concert, scheduled for the 4^th July, is being snubbed by York residents.

Now the Council has halved the cost of a family ticket – down from £100 to £50.

The offer also includes a ticket to the Grand Depart event at the Racecourse and will run until Monday 16^th June.

What residents who have already paid the full price for tickets will think of this discount remains to be seen.

The concert features a group called “Loveable Rogues”

Tickets are on sale now from http://www.ticketline.co.uk/ and http://www.exeriencetherace.com/, and will be available from Visit York on Museum Street in York city centre by Friday (13th June) of this week

The Council has declined to say how many tickets for the event have been sold to date.

Meanwhile it looks like Bradley Wiggins – expected to be one of the main attractions for those attending the Tour de France start – may not now be competing this year

Huntington Stadium – concert doubts

Huntington Stadium

The York Council has yet to confirm whether the Huntington Stadium can be used as a venue for a “10,000 capacity” concert on 4^th July.

Ticket sales for the event – headlined by Russell Watson – are reported to be “sluggish”

Objections to the license application for the site had to be with the council by last Thursday, but no response has yet been published.

Increasing the capacity of the Stadium from just over 4000 to 10,000 will present major transport and logistical problems.

The Council has however announced that the Stadium will become a “spectator hub” for an event on 6^th July.

It replaces the planned “hub” on Monk Stray which was dogged by procedural problems, and eventually had to be abandoned amidst a torrent of objections from residents.

It is unclear what the residents of Huntington will make of the likely impacts these major events will have over what would, in any event, be a busy shopping weekend in the Monks Cross area.

We said a few months ago that the Council – despite allocating a jaw dropping £1.6 million to fund the Tour de France Grand Depart event in the City – had underestimated the skills and manpower necessary to maximise the success of such an event.

Those doubts still remain

Monk Stray meeting confirms no caravans

The meeting held by the Council last night heard confirmation that camping and caravanning plans for Monk Stray had been abandoned.

The Council is now trying to find alternative sites (or refunds) for those visitors who had already booked places at the venue.

However the one day spectator hub event will go ahead and the Council is seeking planning permission to remove 8 metres of hedge-line (and install a gate and access road) to facilitate entry.

The Cabinet member with responsibility for the shambles (Cllr Crisp) has been noticeably quiet leaving Council officials to make the public announcement.

Huntington Stadium

Huntington Stadium

Meanwhile residents only have until 5^th June to record any objections to the plans to hold a 10,000 capacity concert at Huntington Stadium.

It is not yet clear whether the Council has changed the conditions – and not least the capacity – attached to Huntington Stadium’s safety certificate

Huntington Stadium concert – license application submitted

click to go to list of applications published by the York Council

The application for a license, necessary before the Russell Watson concert can take place on 4th July, has now been published on the York Council’s web site

Residents have until 5th June to record any objections to the 10,000 capacity concert planned for the Huntington Stadium.

The Huntington Stadium usually has a 4000 capacity limit for Rugby League matches.

Quite why this application has been submitted by the Council so late in the proceedings – and after the commencement of ticket sales had been announced – is something of a mystery.

It is reminiscent of the plan to hi-jack Monk Stray for use as a campsite for the Tour event; a proposal which led to widespread public concern and eventually the imposition of addition restrictions by the licensing committee.

The main concerns at Huntington are likely to revolve around traffic management issues and public safety management both inside and outside the stadium.

The event is being held on a Friday which is one of the busiest days of the week in the shopping centre and on surrounding roads.

If the Licensing Committee turned down – or imposed a lower crowd limit – on the event then it is unlikely that any appeal against such a decision could be considered in the remaining time available before the event was scheduled to take place.

York Council plans 10,000 capacity event at Huntington Stadium

Star-studded concert will launch a weekend of ‘Grand Départy!’ celebrations in York

Russell Watson

‘People’s Tenor’ Russell Watson, X Factor favourites Rough Copy and Union J, and Kian Egan of Westlife-fame are among the line-up for a star-studded concert that will kick off a weekend of ‘Grand Départy’ celebrations in York.

Planned for the evening of Friday July 4, the Grand Départy Concert will take place at York’s Huntington Stadium.

The size of the event has raised some serious questions about potential congestion, safety and security problems.

The Council has not yet started consultation with affected local residents and businesses in the Huntington area

The diverse line-up also includes York-based singer songwriter Alistair Griffin; British pop star Eylar Fox; The Loveable Rogues; 1980s bands Altered Images, Brother Beyond and the Blow Monkeys; and vocal harmony group The Overtones.

10,000 tickets are available for the event and demand is expected to be high. Priced at £29.50 for general admission, £35 for VIP seated tickets or £100 for a family ticket (for four people), they will be on sale from http://www.ticketline.co.uk/ from Friday 16 May.

The concert is just one element of an action-packed Grand Départy weekend planned for 4, 5 and 6 July. A host of other events and attractions will be taking place at locations across the city, including street theatre and live music.

Those who want to be at the heart of the action throughout the course of the weekend should head to City of York Council’s three Spectator Hubs at Monk Stray, the Designer Outlet and Millennium Bridge, where there will be family entertainment, big screens, refreshments, merchandise and much more.

For more information about the Spectator Hubs, visit: http://www.experiencetherace.com/