MINUTES OF GROUP MEETING

Date: Tuesday 18th June 2019 Time: 17.30 hrs Location: The Bath House, Jubilee Gardens, Westgate, Present: Cindy Bentley (Chair), Margaret Dabell, Norma Harrington (until 6.24pm), Victor Hawkins, Kazia Knight, Alan Lamb (until 6.49pm), Ian Leadley, Denise Podlewska, Claire Stubbs. Iona Taylor (Town Clerk) Alex Daniel, Galan Moss, Eric Ovenden & Julie Smyth (until 6.59pm).

1. Declarations of interest from Town Councillors – none.

2. Yorkshire 2019 – Para Cycling International – 21st September 2019 a) Update on arrangements. The Clerk spoke to a written report which has been circulated to all Town Councillors and Welcome to Wetherby members.

It was noted that the Wetherby offering on 21st September will comprise: • Athlete’s Village – Cluster of Nuts Car Park. Overflow parking will be made available at the Island facility near Grange Park Sports Ground. It is not known whether the High School is also to be made available.

• Race Start At junction of Market Place with Westgate (between Cooplands and Town Hall).

• Artisan Pop Up Market The location of this is still to be confirmed due to the constraints of the width of Bank Street. The suggestion of Little Bird Made running the market was accepted. This provides a tailor made solution to this element of the event, at no cost to the group or Council. Local businesses can apply to have a stall if their wares are compatible with the artisan market vibe.

• Fairground To be located at the One Stop Shop Car Park, subject to obtaining final permission from City Council. Rides to be provided by Roger Tuby & Son. A site visit is to be undertaken and a discussion held on the financial terms. The outcome of these discussions to be reported back to a group meeting.

• Fanzone To be located in southern area of Market Place. Will include a big screen, to be provided and paid for by Yorkshire 2019. Footage for the day will be provided by Yorkshire 2019, although the races won’t be screened on live television. It was agreed that the fanzone will run from 10am to 5pm.

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It will be a mixture of engagement and sports related activities and some light refreshment stalls.

• Entertainment Claire Stubbs confirmed the programme for a whole day of musical entertainment to be located in the Horsefair Centre. There are currently no proposals for live entertainment in the Garden of Rest. Claire Stubbs agreed to look at arranging entertainment on the stage in the fanzone (to be located in front of the Town Hall). The stage is needed by Yorkshire 2019, for the presentation of cyclists, but could be available for other entertainment between 10am and 12 noon.

• Decorations Knitted bunting Alex Daniel reported that the project to knit bunting pennants in the UCI colours is going well and 150 instruction and wool packs have been distributed. It would take 3,000 to decorate the route through Wetherby centre! The Mayoress is to host weekly sessions in the Town Hall. These will be open to anyone who is willing to help stitch the pennants on to the string. The bunting will be ready to erect during w/c 16th September and will remain in place until after 27th. It may then be possible to recycle it for other purposes. Confirmation is required of who will put the bunting up.

Window dressing trail (discussed in detail on 25/6/19). It was agreed that shops and businesses in the town centre should be invited to decorate their windows to ensure that they look good for the event on 21st September and the second race coming through the town on 27th. Numbered wheels will be placed in each window and these will form the basis of a trail for children around the town, active between 14th and 29th September. The wheels will be decorated at a market activity during the summer holidays. Prizes will be sought for completed entries. A draft poster for advertising the competition was considered and wording and terms of the competition were discussed.

Decorated cycling jerseys on lampposts. Julie Smyth reported on efforts to engage schools and local organisations with this project. It was agreed that there should be a mixture of large and small jerseys displayed. Large jerseys will be displayed at key points of the route and could be winning entries from each participating organisation. Prices will be obtained for printing and laminating different sizes. Two local companies have offered to assist with this project.

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• Mayoral Reception To be held in the Town Hall, as a drop in event between 12pm – 3.30pm. An initial meeting has been held with Morrisons to discuss their providing the food for the buffet. There will be an emphasis on using local suppliers and Yorkshire, seasonal produce. Invitations will be sent to the Town Council’s civic list as well as representatives of sporting organisations across the Leeds City area. b) Additional events / attractions. Proposals for additional elements such as cycle races and a caravan coming through before the race were discussed. It was agreed that help to organise these should be sought from outside the group as resources and time are limited. c) 2019 UCI Road World Championships roadshow in Wetherby It was noted that there will be an information roadshow on 20th June 2019 at 6.30pm in the Town Hall. All sectors of the community are encouraged to attend. d) Any other items in relation to 21st September 2019. • A discussion was held about how local businesses, who may be affected by the event, can be helped. This may include adverts on the big screen or a bounce-back voucher booklet on the back of the event guide. • It was noted that the Town Council has agreed £1,000 of funding for this event, to be match funded by the Ward Councillors. • The Cluster of Nuts car park will need spraying for weeds prior to the event. • The surface water grills around the Market Place, near the Town Hall, will need clearing out before 21st September. • is to host a national dog show on 21st September. This will be brought to the attention of Leeds City Council’s highways officers. • The Clerk is working with Tempo FM on a series of one hour shows which will look at how Wetherby is preparing for the 21st September. Suggestions for special guests were requested. • Discussions are also taking place between Tempo FM and Yorkshire 2019 / Leeds City Council about a possible master of ceremonies role on the day of the para-cycling event. Yorkshire 2019 are going to provide a commentator with prior para-cycling knowledge to assist during the race start and for the presentation on the athletes. • Eric Ovenden indicated that Tempo FM may look to cover the para-cycling and town centre events from 11am until 3.15pm.

MINUTES OF GROUP MEETING

The meeting was adjourned at 7.11pm.

The meeting was re-convened as follows: Date: Tuesday 18th June 2019 Time: 5.30pm Location: The Bath House, Jubilee Gardens, Westgate, Wetherby Present: Cindy Bentley (Chair), Margaret Dabell, Norma Harrington (from 6.15pm) Victor Hawkins, Kazia Knight and Ian Leadley. Alison Waterfield (5.30pm until 6.15pm) Iona Taylor, Town Clerk (from 6.05pm). Alex Daniel

3. Apologies. Apologies for absence on 18th June were received from Dean Buckle (via e-mail during meeting). Apologies for absence on 25th June were received from Alan Lamb, Denise Podlewska and Claire Stubbs.

4. Notes of the last meeting. The minutes of the last meeting held on 27th March 2019 were approved as a true record.

5. Matters arising from the last meeting: a) Litter in Wetherby • Councillor Lamb has convened a summit of interested parties to discuss the issue of litter in Wetherby. • There was no feedback on additional or improved litter bins in the town. • Leeds City Council’s ONE Cleaner Neighbourhoods Team can be contacted for an update on asking licensed premises to provide cigarette bins outside their premises.

6. Welcome to Wetherby merchandise. • It was agreed that a sales stand should be held in on Saturday 6th July to sell bags and books and to give out visitor leaflets. • Some market traders on the weekly outdoor Thursday market have agreed to sell bags on a sale or return basis. • Welcome to Wetherby will be able to have a stall in the fanzone on 21st September. • Bags can be displayed on the wall of the Deighton Room in the Town Hall and sold through the Town Council’s offices.

Victor Hawkins agreed to ask the U3A group to review the routes in the walking booklet to make sure that they are clear and passable. The next edition of the book should include the anchor.

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7. Christmas shopping guide and window dressing competition. This is to be considered in detail at a meeting in September, but the following principles were agreed. Retailers are to be approached at the beginning of October and invited to provide artwork for the digital shopping guide. This will give an opportunity for a broader section of businesses to get involved e.g. food outlets. The guide will be in a digital format for the first year as a printed version may be prohibitively expensive. The guide can be uploaded to the wetherby.co.uk website and linked / promoted through social media channels. It will be important to publicise that it’s a free guide.

Entries will also be invited to the annual window dressing competition, with a deadline of 4pm on 28th November 2019. Entry forms are to be distributed during w/c 4th November. Judging will take place during w/c 12th December.

8. Overnight parking for motorhomes. Locations in and around Wetherby were considered for the possible provision of informal, overnight parking for motorhomes. These included: • Wetherby Racecourse – cannot assist due to cost and licensing issues. • Island overflow parking site near Grange Park Sports Ground. • Sports Association / Leisure Centre – to be approached to consider proposal. • Old Station Car Park – agreed that this is the group’s preferred location and that an approach should be made to Leeds City Council to find out which department is responsible for the area.

9. Business Directory on wetherby.co.uk The Town Council has considered proposals to provide a business directory on the wetherby.co.uk website. It has been agreed that the Council has no objections to the principle of this project and has given the Clerk permission to speak to Wetherby Business Association representatives about collaborating on its development. Detailed proposals are to be brought back to the Council for further consideration in the future. It was agreed that there needs to be synergy across the various sharing information platforms in the town, including promotional opportunities on the new citi-wise Wetherby app.

10. 2018/19 Finance Report a) Income and expenditure. The report showed that the group incurred expenditure of £830 in the 2018/19 financial year and generated income of £591. Sales of bags have now covered costs and future receipts will be earmarked to purchase new stock as required. Sales of walking books are earmarked to cover future re-printing costs and currently stand at £424. The cost of the last re-print was £1,341.

MINUTES OF GROUP MEETING

b) Earmarked reserves. It was noted that the group has £1,764.61 of working capital. These funds are held as earmarked reserves within the Town Council’s accounts. The balance was reduced by £162 to cover the group’s deficit on the Whole Town Open Day.

11. Social media. Statistics showing engagement on Welcome to Wetherby’s social media channels were considered. There is significant potential for improvement. The facebook page’s total reach over a 28 day period was 4,399 people, compared to 11,696 on the Town Council / Town Hall page which has significantly fewer page likes.

It was agreed that the pages should be used more for promotion of the town to visitors, rather than as community forum. Kazia Knight presented an example video giving background information about, and photographs of, the anchor at the Cluster of Nuts car park. This was welcomed by the group and agreed that it could be posted on the Welcome to Wetherby platforms. Suggestions for other locations to be included in future montages were considered and a list is to be put forward at the next group meeting.

It was agreed that the Town Council be asked to review the interim arrangements for Welcome to Wetherby to include extending the authorised users of the group’s social media accounts to include Kazia Knight.

12. VE Day Weekend 2020 See www.veday75.org for information on this anniversary. A discussion was held about possible ways of commemorating this event. Cindy Bentley will get in touch with the Wetherby & District Branch of the Royal British Legion to discuss their possible involvement and appetite for celebrations.

13. Items for information a) Tourist Information Map It was noted that the library is preparing to print a new visitor map for Wetherby. A final draft will be available for review in due course.

14. Date of next meeting. It was agreed that the next group meeting be held on Tuesday 16th July 2019 at 5.30pm in the Bath House, Westgate.

The meeting closed at 7.12pm on 25th June 2019. These minutes were recorded and prepared by Iona Taylor, Town Clerk.